Mother, toddler die of carbon monoxide poisoning while trying to stay warm in car

A Passaic mother and her 1-year-old son died of carbon monoxide poisoning Saturday night while trying to keep warm inside a car that had its tailpipe covered in snow, NorthJersey.com reported.

The woman's 3-year-old daughter remains hospitalized in critical condition.

According to story, the child's father had been outside shoveling snow on Sherman Street for about 20 minutes. When he opened the car door, he was unable to wake his family and called for help, Passaic Det. Andy White told NorthJersey.com. The family lives on Brinkerhoff Place but their car, a four-door Mazda, was parked on Sherman Street.

When authorities arrived at about 8:15 p.m., they found that people were already performing CPR on the mother and son outside the car, the story states. The mother and son, whose names were not released by police, were taken by EMS crews to St. Mary's Hospital and pronounced dead. The 3-year-old was taken to St, Joseph’s Regional Medical Center in Paterson.

NorthJersey.com reports that while police would not release the name of the victims, neighbors identified the mother as Sashalynn Rosa. On Sunday afternoon, friends and family members posted messages of love and support on the woman's Facebook page.