Carbon Monoxide Leak at Grandma's Kills 3 Teens

Four cousins were found unresponsive at their grandmother's home in Troy, Ohio, on Friday afternoon after a carbon monoxide leak, and three of them have now died. Sisters Dionanna Bishop, 14, and Dejah (also spelled Dejay) Bishop, 13, died after being taken to the hospital Friday; Jakia Jones, 13, died yesterday. Her brother, 8-year-old Jahari (also spelled Jakari) Ward, remains in critical condition, WDTN reports. The children lived with their grandmother, Jean Bishop, and investigators say the carbon monoxide poisoning was caused by a malfunctioning furnace, the Dayton Daily News reports.

Police tell WHIO they are not sure whether the children went to school Friday; a relative came to the home around 2:20pm and found them unresponsive. That person told dispatchers the kids had been sick for days, CBS News reports; it notes the grandmother was in the hospital at the time, where she was being treated for what is thought to be pneumonia. The home is not believed to have carbon monoxide detectors, and attorneys representing the homeowners, Joseph and Kathy Caldwell, say the Caldwells were not aware of any furnace issues. As for Jahari, his uncle says the little boy is "fighting; he’s showing signs from stimulus, from us touching him and praying with him. We need prayers to help him fight for his life." (More carbon monoxide stories.)