A community remains in mourning after the tragic deaths of three Moriarty High School sophomores due to an apparent carbon monoxide poisoning during a sleepover.
Police say the three teenagers, Christopher Pearce, Nathen Stack, and another yet to be identified--died Feb. 5 of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in the garage of a fourth friend’s house in the East Mountains, according to a KRQE report.
“Just such a loving boy,” Pearce’s aunt, Connie Keyohara, told KRQE during a recent vigil. “This is so tragic for our family. His joyfulness; he laughed; his smile could brighten up a room. He was just laughing all the time and he was just a joy to be around.”
Maria Martinez, also one of Pearce’s aunts, is mourning his loss.
“We don’t know what to think,” she said. “It’s hard to take the next breath. You don’t just plan for things like this for children. You don’t plan for expenses like this for 17-year-olds.”
Rocco, a close friend of Nathen, said he knew him since the sixth grade.
“He always had your back, if you needed something he was right there,” he said.
Rocco said they would go to Moriarty’s skate park every weekend throughout their middle school years and he was there when Nathen bought his first skateboard.
“He was the dopest kid out there, always had my back,” Rocco said.
Edgewood police said a friend of the three students found them at his Edgewood home unresponsive in the garage just after 11 a.m. Sunday morning. Police say they found a propane heater running inside the unventilated garage.
“It looks to be just a tragic accident at this point. We suspect there to be carbon monoxide poisoning,” said Edgewood Police Chief, Roger Jimenez.
Mackenzie Milligan, Christopher Pearce’s girlfriend, told the Albuquerque Journal the garage was the boys’ hangout spot, outfitted with a TV, beanbags, chairs, and video games.
Pearce’s family plans to do all they can to prevent a similar tragedy.
“I think that as we move forward and as we get past our grief, we just want to educate people on the dangers of using propane heat without ventilation and having smoke detectors,” Martinez said.
The school district is offering counseling for students at Moriarty High.
"Carbon monoxide poisoning occurs when carbon monoxide builds up in your bloodstream,” according to the Mayo Clinic website. “When too much carbon monoxide is in the air, your body replaces the oxygen in your red blood cells with carbon monoxide. This can lead to serious tissue damage or even death."
