Rocky Mount police found three people dead inside a home on King Charles Court on Monday morning and are investigating whether a generator inside the house filled it with deadly carbon monoxide fumes. Officers said they found the bodies at 10:45 a.m. after responding to the home, then forced their way inside and discovered Tracey Swann, Kenny Swann and 20-year-old Mahala Scurlock dead, along with three dogs.
For the family, the deaths landed on top of an already grim few days. Krista Crisp said Tracey Swann's electricity had recently been turned off, the bill had climbed above $2,000 and Swann, who was the only one working, had tried to make partial payments while being told only the full amount would be accepted. She said Swann missed a planned family shopping outing on Saturday, and when a relative knocked on the door on Sunday there was no answer. By Monday, another family member returned and said, “I smell death.”
The three dead were identified by relatives as a married couple, Tracey Swann and Kenny Swann, and Scurlock, who family members said was Swann's adopted daughter. Police have not determined the cause of death, but Chief Martin McCoy Sr. said Tuesday that investigators do not suspect foul play. He said, “We’re looking at every angle,” even as the examination continues into whether fumes from a running generator inside the home proved fatal.
That question now sits at the center of the case. The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner has been contacted, and Rocky Mount police said the office will notify the Rocky Mount Police Department regarding the official cause of death. Police also said there appears to be no safety threat to surrounding residents, but the family is left waiting for an answer that explains how three people died in the same home at the same time. Elizabeth Scurlock said Tracey and Kenneth Swann meant the world to the family and added, “They would give you the clothes off their back if they could. They meant — they mean the world to us.”
Elizabeth Scurlock said the family is still trying to process the loss and that the deaths have left them searching for the basic fact police have not yet answered: whether the power shutoff and a generator inside the home turned a household problem into a deadly one.
