'Mommy was shocked': Woman dies of electrocution at Rocky Mount motel, autopsy says
An autopsy released Thursday explains in more detail what happened when a woman and her young daughter were electrocuted at an extended stay motel in Rocky Mount during a freak accident involving a faulty room air conditioner.
Kendra Pittman, 30, and Siiyahh, her 9-year-old daughter, died on Aug. 10, at the Economy Inn Hotel and Suites, located off of Interstate 95 in Nash County, authorities said.
Investigators said Pittman, who lived at the motel with her family, suffered cardiac arrest during the incident. Her daughter was rushed for medical treatment to Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, where she died, police said.
According to the autopsy, the father of the family left the room to go pay rent and alert the front desk that the air conditioning was not working in the room.
The desk clerk checked and found that the breaker had tripped, according to the report. The desk clerk reset the breaker.
The father returned to the room and later told police that he could hear the air conditioner running and heard his 10-year-old son shouting at him through the door.
"Don't touch the door. Mommy was shocked," the son said, according to the report.
The man kicked down the door and found his wife and daughter on the floor.
The boy said when his mother went to open the door, "she stiffened and became unresponsive." He was able to knock her body away from the door and was trying to wake her up when his sister touched the handle and her body also stiffened. He was able to knock her body away from the door.
The 10-year-old received a mild shock while pulling the two away, the autopsy report said.
Kendra Pittman's cause of death was electrocution.
