Rocky Mount police are investigating the deaths of three people found inside a home on King Charles Court on Monday.
Relatives identified a couple found dead inside a mobile home as a married couple, Tracey Swann and Kenny Swann, and 20-year-old Mahala Scurlock, who Tracey had adopted, family members told WRAL News.
Rocky Mount police found the three at 10:45 a.m. on Monday. Investigators are looking into whether a generator was running inside the home, creating dangerous carbon monoxide fumes.
Police said that, while they haven’t determined a cause of death, there appears to be no safety threat to surrounding residents.
“The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has been contacted and will notify the Rocky Mount Police Department regarding the official cause of death,” the police statement said.
Krista Crisp, Tracey Swann’s daughter, told WRAL News that her mother’s electricity had recently been turned off — a detail that, she says, could have played a role in the deaths.
Rocky Mount, which has dealt with billing issues for months, recently started charging customers late fees and shutting off power for some customers who had unpaid bills. Crisp said the family’s utility bill was over $2,000 and her mom was the only one working. She said her mother tried to make partial payments, but said the city would only accept the full amount.
Crisp suspected over the weekend that Tracey Swann might be in trouble. First, Swann failed to show up to a planned family shopping outing on Saturday. Then on Sunday, she didn’t answer the front door when a family member came knocking.
When a family member returned to the Swanns’ residence again Monday, she told Crisp: “I smell death.”
Police forced their way into the home to find the Swanns and Scurlock dead, as well as three dogs.
Rocky Mount’s police chief said on Tuesday that investigators do not suspect foul play.
“We’re looking at every angle,” Rocky Mount Police Chief Martin McCoy Sr. said.
McCoy said the family’s utility billing history is not included in the investigation.
“That would be an issue that the family would have to take up with the utilities department.”
The city of Rocky Mount did not immediately respond to WRAL’s questions about when the power was disconnected, whether the family paid some or all of their balance, and how long it had been since they paid their bill.
Elizabeth Scurlock, Tracey and Kenneth’s niece, told WRAL that she’s still struggling to process the deaths. “They would give you the clothes off their back if they could. They meant — they mean the world to us,” Scurlock said. “This is still very hard for us, and we’re just trying to process this.”
