The girlfriend of Brooks told authorities that he was having trouble with his car battery and often kept the car running in the garage. He apparently forgot to turn the engine off and the fumes overcame the two men in the house.

San Antonio Fire Department spokesman Tommy Thompson said the incident report did not list the presence of a CO detector and he doubted that there was one in the home.

“Had there been an alarm, it would have gone off,” he added. “When the fire department took a reading, there were 164 parts per million of carbon monoxide — and that was 15 minutes after they opened the house up.”

Publication date: 01/24/2002