Nun: CO victim made desperate efforts to get help

A nun says that an Orange County woman who died from carbon monoxide poisoning made desperate efforts to get help, just days before she and her companion were found dead inside their apartment. Last

News 12 Staff

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Mar 10, 2015, 1:58 AM

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Updated 3,579 days ago

A nun says that an Orange County woman who died from carbon monoxide poisoning made desperate efforts to get help, just days before she and her companion were found dead inside their apartment.

Last week, Jewell Cummings, a 65-year-old retired bus driver, and her longtime companion, 63-year-old Robert Cummings, were found dead inside 55 Lander St. from undetected carbon monoxide poisoning.

Sister Norma Carney, of Newburgh Ministry, says Jewell Cummings came to her crying and in need of blankets days before the tragic incident.

The nun says Cummings told her that the landlord died in December and that no one was taking care of the building.

City of Newburgh code enforcement officials say they got a no-heat call from the residence at the end of February, but that no one would let them in to check it out.

Carney says the couple was afraid they would get kicked out and that they paid someone to fix the furnace.

The multifamily building is now condemned.