Child and 2 adults found dead in Holmesburg house, with carbon monoxide poisoning suspected

A child and two adults were found dead at a house in the city’s Holmesburg section Thursday afternoon, Acting Fire Commissioner Craig Murphy said.

High levels of carbon monoxide were detected inside the house, Murphy said.

Police said later that carbon monoxide poisoning was the suspected cause of the deaths.

Murphy said the Fire Department responded around 1 p.m. to a house on the 4000 block of Ashburner Street and found the two adults and the child dead inside.

The victims were Maricel Martinez, Jorge Cardona, and 12-year-old Angelina Cardona-Martinez, said Elizabeth Sanchez, who identified herself as the mother of Martinez and grandmother of the girl.

A wellness check was initiated after the victims didn’t respond to calls and text messages, Sanchez said.

“My grandchild was the most amazing kid. So sweet, extremely bright, loved to dance, very friendly, and a great student,” Sanchez said.

Martinez, who was 47, “was the best daughter one could ask for. She was a teacher at Angelina’s school. The most responsible single person you could meet,” Sanchez said, who identified the school as St. Albert the Great Catholic School in Huntingdon Valley.

The school’s website lists Maricel Martinez as a Spanish teacher. A representative from the school could not be reached for comment.

Cardona, 56, was a “good man, kind, always willing to help,” Sanchez said.

Murphy said a woman outside the house was taken to the hospital. Sanchez said that person was a relative who nearly fainted when she learned about the deaths.

Workers from Philadelphia Gas Works were at the scene as part of the emergency response.

St. Albert’s administrators issued a statement Thursday night acknowledging the deaths and offering grief counseling at the school.

“We will remember Mrs. Martinez as a gifted Spanish teacher, wonderful mother, and true friend to our school community. Angelina, a proud member of this year’s 5th grade class, will be remembered by many here as a bright, spirited, and always smiling student, who had a passion for drawing and reading,” Sandra McDevitt, the principal, and the Rev. Robert B. McDermott, pastor, said in the statement.