Mom of 2 dies of carbon monoxide poisoning while power washing, IN officials say

A mother of two is believed to have died from carbon monoxide poisoning as she was power washing a barn on her property, Indiana officials say.

The body of 45-year-old Lacy Leigha Alexander was discovered in a barn on the Howard County property on Sept. 19, according to the Howard County Coroner’s Office.

Officials said she was “using a gas power washer while cleaning a stall area within the pole barn.”

An autopsy was performed Sept. 22, according to the coroner, who said it will determine her official cause of death. Foul play is not suspected.

According to her obituary and a MealTrain fundraiser, Alexander was a married mother to two teenagers. She worked for more than two decades as a lab tech, but was known around her Greentown community as a supportive mother and coach.

A parent said in the Greentown Youth Baseball group on Facebook that Alexander was a “staple mom, coach, leader and friend.”

“Lacy Alexander was a mom to every kid on the field, loving them fiercely and putting in tireless hours to make them better baseball players, students, and young men and women,” Tiffany Damitz said on Facebook. “Her shoes can never be filled but her memory will live on in every player’s heart that she touched.”

Those thoughts were echoed by the Greentown Girls Softball League, which referred to her as a “bright & sassy light.”

“Her grit and leadership on and off the ball diamonds was out of this world,” the league said. “Her presence was a force to be reckoned with and so many lives were touched by her.”

Greentown is about a 60-mile drive north from Indianapolis.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warns that you should “never use a gasoline powered washer in an enclosed space or less than 20 feet from any window, door, or vent.”

“Workers should not use any equipment powered by gasoline engines inside buildings or other partially enclosed spaces,” the CDC says, “unless the gasoline engine can be placed outdoors and away from air intakes.”

Signs of carbon monoxide poisoning include headache, dizziness, vomiting, chest pain and weakness.