The two deceased children were girls identified as Dionanna Bishop, 14, and Dejah Bishop, 13. Police identified the other two as 13-year-old Jakia Jones, a girl, and 8-year-old Jakari Ward, a boy.
“They’re fighting for their life in critical condition,” Leon Bishop Sr., the father of the man who called 911, said late Friday. “They’re on life support right now. They have machines breathing for them.”
The children all were found unresponsive in a home at 114 S. Elm St. on Friday afternoon. Paramedics were doing CPR on all four children when they were removed from the house and initially transported to Upper Valley Medical Center.
“This is a tragic day for my family,” Leon Bishop Sr. said. “They aren’t doing well at all. My mom is falling apart. It’s like she’s been hit with a ton of bricks. My son, he’s trying to take the blame.”
Leon Bishop Jr., who rents the property, told the 911 dispatcher that the children appeared sick, like they had the flu, “but it’s bad,” he said during the call at 2:11 p.m. He said the grandmother said the children had been “sick for a couple days” and that they hadn’t been eating anything.
Troy police Capt. Chris Anderson said that all four children were not in school Friday. Leon Bishop Sr. said the children had been vomiting, sleepy and disoriented and that family members were treating the children with cold medicine.
The children lived with their grandmother, who had been ill and had been in the hospital since Thursday evening, Anderson said. Whether the illness was related in any way to a carbon monoxide issue remains under investigation, he said.
“We’re looking into, right now, the fact of the (gas) furnace appeared to be malfunctioning,” said Anderson, who also said he did not see CO detectors in the house.
“I feel like, uh, the property that my son was renting, is not being maintained well,” Leon Bishop Sr. said. “I have been over there, and the CO and smoke detectors go off regularly … Up until today, I had no idea it was the furnace.”
Leon Bishop Sr. said his son was told by the landlords that the furnace was fine.
“We thought that it was because the detectors were so close to the kitchen when they cooked that it would go off,” he said. “But obviously, that was not the issue. The gas was escaping from the furnace. It was an old furnace. Everything in that house is old.”
The owners of 114 S. Elm St. — a two-bedroom, one-bath home built in 1920 — are Joseph and Kathy Caldwell of Troy, according to the Miami County Auditor’s website. A woman who answered a phone number listed for the Caldwells said, “We’re not giving out a comment right now.”
As of Jan. 1, 2013, Ohio state law requires new residential properties to have carbon monoxide detectors, but the law does not address older dwellings, according to an Ohio government website.
Troy Schools Superintendent Eric Herman said: “It is very tragic, and we are very sorry for the family.”
Jerry Smith, who lives with his wife Myra across the street, said he didn’t really know the family but often saw the children playing.
The Smiths said they believed the grandmother, who they believe had custody of the four children, was in her 70s. “These were her grandkids that she actually adopted,” said Myra Smith.
“I know she would just sit out there (on her porch) and she would just cry because she wanted to find a place,” Myra Smith said. She added that the grandmother had been looking for a new place to live.
“I’m quite sure she wanted something bigger,” Jerry Smith said of why he thinks the grandmother wanted to move.
Jerry Smith described when first responders got to the scene.
“Next thing I know, I started hearing sirens,” he said. “So, I’m like ‘What the heck’s going on?’ I saw them out there trying to revive one of the kids. I asked the (sheriff’s deputy) what was going on, and she said they were trying to revive a couple of the kids,” he added. “It was heart-breaking. We have kids of our own, and even though they are grown, I hate to see kids in that predicament.”
“I just hope he makes it,” Myra Smith said of the 8-year-old boy.
Maddie Miller, who lives next door to the house where the children were found, said the four children lived there with their grandmother and that they had not lived there long. “They literally just moved in last summer,” Miller said.
Leon Smith Sr. had advice for people who are renting their homes.
“At least talk to your landlords about updating the CO monitors and fire, smoke detectors,” he said. “Also, that if you have maintenance in your house, anything dangerous, you should stay on them and try to get them out there as soon as possible to resolve the issues.”
Staff Writer Drew Simon and Contributing Writer Nancy Bowman contributed to this report.
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