18-year-old found dead in garage with boyfriend, 17, of suspected carbon monoxide poisoning

PHOENIX (KPHO/Gray News) – Two young men in Arizona were found dead Tuesday of apparent carbon monoxide poisoning in the Chandler area.

One of the men was 18-year-old Romeo Alvarez. His family says they have been left in shock.

Family members said Alvarez helped care for his mother and younger sisters for years after his father died when he was a baby.

He recently graduated from Dobson High School and gave a special shoutout to his mother.

“I always strive to be the best in everything I do and that’s because she always pushes me to give 130%,” he said.

Family members said everyone celebrated Alvarez’s mother’s birthday together last Sunday. The 18-year-old left later that evening to go to a friend’s house but never came home.

When no one could contact him Monday, the family reported Alvarez missing to Chandler police and Arizona State University, where he attended school.

The family eventually tracked Alvarez’s location to an apartment complex in Chandler thanks to their cell phone location data.

Around 3 a.m. Tuesday, police found him and his 17-year-old friend dead in a garage.

The family believes the two died of accidental carbon monoxide poisoning.

“If they were in that garage listening to music and time passed with no air, maybe the windows open, who knows,” said Alvarez’s cousin Eilian Castaneda.

Many questions remain as detectives continue to investigate what happened that night, but those close to Alvarez hope others learn to never leave a car in a garage.

“Carbon monoxide can last minutes, maybe even seconds,” Castaneda said.

A GoFundMe has since been established to help with Alvarez’s funeral costs.

In a memo sent to Chandler High School families, the 17-year-old who died was identified as Marcus Lee.