Blount County, TN – The Blount County Sheriff’s Office is continuing its investigation in the death of a woman from suspected carbon monoxide poisoning.
Debra Ann Cerrato, 58, was found dead Saturday in the bedroom of her home in the 1100 block of McArthur Road.
A small dog was also found dead inside the home.
The Sheriff’s Office, along with the Blount County Fire Department and Rural/Metro Ambulance Service, responded to the Cerrato’s residence around noon Saturday.
Debra Cerrato’s husband, Romeo Cerrato, told deputies he had found his wife unresponsive in her bed a short time earlier.
Her husband was in the home, but he did not require medical attention.
The fire department tested for carbon monoxide and found high levels of it inside the house.
An autopsy was performed on the woman at University of Tennessee Medical Center Sunday, but detectives are awaiting results of toxicology tests so the cause of death can be determined.
Blount County Fire Captain Tim Ogle said the residents had been running a generator off the carport, and carbon monoxide apparently leaked from the generator into the home. He said the residents had been running the generator as a source of electricity for about two weeks.
“They were running a generator because they had no electricity in the house,” Ogle said. “They were running the generator for light.”