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Officials: Four people, including two young brothers, likely killed by carbon monoxide

The victims were discovered Sunday morning in an east Oak Cliff home
Credit: WFAA
Nestor Martinez with his twin sons, Elijah and Josiah Martinez.

DALLAS — Carbon monoxide is often called "the silent killer." And inside an Oak Cliff home, it appears to have claimed the lives of four people, who authorities say likely didn't even know it was happening. 

"The house mostly likely wasn't vented, the windows weren't open, anything like that," said Jason Evans, spokesman for Dallas Fire-Rescue.

Evans said the victims were two construction workers and two toddlers, the sons of one of the workers. 

With the owner's permission, they had been sleeping in a home they were renovating in the 1400 block of Owega Avenue.

The homeowner told WFAA the little boys who died were 2-year-old twin brothers, Elijah and Josiah Martines. Their father, Nestor Martinez, and the other worker, a friend, were from Honduras. He said they were good people he'd known for months.

Credit: WFAA
Elijah and Josiah Martinez

DFR said they believe the men brought a gas generator inside to keep it from getting stolen.

"From what the homeowner told us, someone may have tried to steal the generator last night," Evans said. "We don't know exactly what time it was that the generator was brought into the house."

The generator then filled the home with poison. By the time the homeowner showed up in the morning to check on one of the workers and called 911, it was too late. DFR said it was lethal.

Credit: Lauren Zakalik

"Carbon monoxide levels read over 200 parts per million," Evans said. "To give you some kind of perspective, for a prolonged period of time, exposures as low as 9 to 10 ppm can be fatal."

DFR said carbon monoxide has no color or odor. So if you don't have a monitor, you may not know you're being poisoned.

"It's a terrible tragedy," neighbor Tim Lewis said. "I hate for anybody to go through that."

The neighborhood is heartbroken over what happened inside the home; two young brothers and two men, likely killed by the air they breathed.

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