A thermostat inside the apartment on Aldine Bender on the day after the victim was found dead showed 99 degrees, and it was blowing hot air.
HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — Many people at the Haverstock Hills Apartments were chilling on Wednesday with fully functioning air conditioners, but a thermostat inside unit 196-A read 99 degrees as hot air blew from vents even with the switch turned off.
“It’s very hot,” Linda Thomas said. “Hot like a heater, an oven.”
Thomas was called to the north Harris County apartment on Tuesday evening after her 80-year-old aunt, identified by family as Carolyn Dalcour, was found dead on her couch.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office and EMS initially showed up to a call about an unresponsive person. They said there were no signs of trauma or foul play.
Dalcour’s family confirmed she had medical issues but believes the heat is the primary culprit.
“You can’t even stand in there two minutes,” Thomas told KHOU 11.
While we cannot verify what the interior temperature was on Tuesday or the condition of the air conditioner, Dalcour’s family claimed she complained about it to management as recently as Sunday, when relatives said they tried to get her to leave.
“I just don’t like how the whole situation was handled,” community activist Candice Matthews said.
She’s working with the family to try to get answers.
“Because, one, she went several times to the apartment complex management about the heat,” Matthews told us.
KHOU 11 News stopped by the office on Wednesday and also called them. We were told management has no comment at this time.
Meanwhile, Dalcour’s family started removing some things from her hot, empty apartment.
“My aunt was very loved, very loved,” Thomas said. “Everybody over here loved her; she’s going to be missed.”
Ultimately, the medical examiner’s office will determine Dalcour’s cause of death, which could take time.