GAFFNEY, S.C. (AP) - Authorities have released the names of the mother and 11-year-old daughter killed in an early morning house fire in Gaffney.
Cherokee County Coroner Dennis Fowler on Friday identified the victims as 43-year-old Evelyn Rodriguez and her daughter, Lanette.
Fowler says both died from carbon monoxide poisoning and burns.
Authorities have said Rodriguez was able to get her 12-year-old son out of the home safely after it caught fire around 4:30 a.m. Thursday, but died when she went back inside to rescue her daughter.
Authorities say the boy tried to break a window and get into his sister’s bedroom, but the smoke and heat were too powerful.
Fowler says Rodriguez’s parents were sleeping in a back bedroom and managed to escape. Investigators are trying to determine what started the blaze.
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