11-year-old Texas boy dies of suspected hypothermia during power outage
The state has been pounded by record low temperatures, snow and ice
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}An 11-year-old boy died of suspected hypothermia when his mobile home lost power during the historic cold snap that slammed Texas.
Cristian Pavon Peneda was found dead in his bed Monday — after spending some time out in the snow for the first time in his life, his family told the Houston Chronicle.
It was his "first time [seeing snow]," his mother, Maria Elisa Pineda, said Thursday. "That’s why he was excited outside. Everything was well. He was happy that day. He was not at all sick."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TEXAS COUNTY RECORDS 10 HYPOTHERMIA DEATHS; OFFICIAL CALLS FOR ACCOUNTABILITY
But the mobile home where his family — who had moved to Texas from Honduras two years ago — was staying in Conroe lost power early Monday, as temperatures plunged into the single digits.
The sixth-grader died in a bed he’d shared with his 3-year-old stepbrother, who was fine.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"He was already dead," Pineda recalled of finding her boy’s lifeless body around 2 p.m. Monday.
A truck drives past a highway sign Monday, Feb. 15, 2021, in Houston. ((AP Photo/David J. Phillip))
An autopsy was performed Thursday but it will take several weeks before a cause of death is determined, Conroe Police Department spokesman Sgt. Jeff Smith told the Chronicle.
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"By all other means, he was a normal, healthy child," Smith said.
He described the family's home as a poorly insulated, single-wide trailer that was 40 years old.
The family has launched a GoFundMe page to help raise funds to send Cristian’s remains to Honduras.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}TEXAS TEMPERATURES CLIMB, POWER OUTAGES REPAIRED BUT FOOD AND WATER SHORTAGES REMAIN
"His wish was to see his grandparents again and that is what the mother wants to fulfill, please help with whatever you can in order to hopefully be able to achieve this, God bless you," the page said.
At least 40 people have died as a result of the winter storm that swept through the region earlier this week, leaving frigid temperatures in its wake.