The cause of death of the two North Carolina teenagers who were found dead in the backseat of a running car last month has been determined.
The North Carolina Office of the Chief Medical Examiner found that 16-year-old Ailton Sebastian Tirado-Martinez and 17-year-old Britany Munoz-Ramirez both died of acute carbon monoxide poisoning on October 24, according to copies of their autopsie reports.
Martinez and Munoz-Ramirez were found sitting in the back of the parked car outside Don Steed Elementary School in Hoke County the morning of October 24. When first responders arrived on the scene, they found the car was still running.
According to investigation reports from the medical examiner, Martinez and Munoz-Ramirez had attended a party the night before. Text messages suggested that the pair left the party shortly after midnight to head home, but weren’t home in the morning.
Family members launched a search, and one of Munoz-Ramirez’s family members found them parked by the elementary school’s soccer field.
Both teens were in 11th grade at Hoke County High School and were on the soccer team.
“Hoke County Schools joins our community in mourning the loss of two of our students, Britany Carolina Munoz Ramirez and Ailton Sebastian Tirado-Martinez who passed away early Sunday morning,” Hoke County Schools Superintendent Dr. Debra Dowless previously said in a statement.
“This is a great loss for our entire district family. We offer our sincere condolences to the family, friends, and the HCHS community in their time of need,” Dowless said.
Classmates and teachers of the teens have remembered them as “wonderful” and “sweet.”
“She was just such a wonderful child,” Munoz-Ramirez’s English teacher, Ruth Herbert said. “She was actually the go-between for me as an English-only speaker and her being a bilingual speaker. Also just being a person who wanted to help others.”
Diane Mitchell, Martinez’s civics teacher, told the news station that he “was a sweet child.”
Mitchell also said that students at the high school were deeply grieving the loss of their classmates.
“They’re coming and making peace, but it’s going to be a while before they fully embrace. They are really hurting,” Mitchell said of the students.
Soccer coach Latoya Ray said, “When Ailton came, he lit up when he saw me. I’ll miss him saying, ‘Coach Ray, I came to see you at practice.’ I’m going to miss Britany’s softness and kindness toward my child. That meant a lot to me.”
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