Rodney Todd cared for his seven children, running their Princess Anne household, preparing meals and then working in dining services at a nearby college. (AP) — A divorced father and the seven children he was trying to raise on a kitchen worker's salary were poisoned in their sleep by carbon monoxide only days after the power company discovered a stolen meter and cut off electricity to their rental home, police said Tuesday. Police were sent to the home Monday after... (Associated Press) 
 
 Lloyd Edwards, left, and Bonnie Edwards, the stepfather and mother of Rodney Todd stand outside the home where Todd and his seven children found dead Monday, April 6, 2015, in Princess Anne, Md. According to police, she had not seen Todd since March 28. "The children were all in beds, and it appears as though they were sleeping," Princess Anne police Chief Scott Keller said. "Probably it was bedtime and they decided they needed some light and probably some heat, because toward the end of March even though it was spring we were having some pretty chilly nights." I'm still thinking they're in there and they just are quiet and don't want anyone to realize." The children's mother, Tyisha Luneice Chambers, told the Associated Press on Tuesday: "If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped." Matt Likovich, a spokesman for Delmarva Power, said Tuesday that the utility was not contacted to have power restored in the home after the illegal meter was removed. Another son of Todd's, Rodney Jr., was not living at the home. (WJZ Video) SEE MORE VIDEOS 
 
 The police chief said the utility has been subpoenaed to document what happened. State law prohibits utilities from cutting electrical service for nonpayment of bills from Nov. 1 through March 31, without an affidavit filed to the Public Service Commission. Maryland regulations allow utility companies to terminate service without notice if the utility finds a condition on the customer's premise is hazardous or the customer has tampered with the utility's equipment. Although Todd got some welfare money, it wasn't enough to pay the bills, his close friend Sarah Hardy said Tuesday morning. The utility originally disconnected power there in October, before the Todds began renting the home, and Delmarva said no request had been made to reconnect service. Delmarva Power said the home had been without service since March 25, when workers discovered a stolen electric meter and shut off power for "safety reasons." Todd's mother and Edwards' wife, Bonnie, identified her grandsons as Cameron and Zhiheem, who were 13 and 7, and her granddaughters, Tyjuziana, Tykeria, Tynijuzia, Tyniah and Tyberyia, who were 15, 12, 10, 9 and 6, respectively. "All he was trying to do was to keep his kids warm." A co-worker at the nearby University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Brittney Hudson, said Todd "was always smiling and laughing." But Chambers said he was physically abusive to her and stabbed her in the face before serving 16 months in prison for assaulting her. Chambers also said she had been the primary breadwinner when they were together and kept paying child support until losing track of them in Todd's last move. "We're waiting for our brother to come out that door," Hardy said. They couldn't believe he and his family were no longer inside. The youngest, Tybreyia, "was the bashful type," Hardy said, "but she was really loving." "They took care of each other," and they helped their dad, too, she said.
– The utility that cut off power to a Maryland home days before Rodney Todd and his seven children were found dead says it didn't cut him off for not paying bills—because it never sent him any. Delmarva Power says it shut off power to the rented home in October; Todd moved there in November and it says there was no request to have it reconnected. The utility says it cut off electricity for safety reasons when workers discovered a stolen meter on March 25, reports the Baltimore Sun, which notes that state law makes it difficult for utilities to cut off service for unpaid bills between Nov. 1 and March 31, but service can be cut off without notice in the case of hazardous conditions or illegal connections. Police believe Todd, 36, and the children were poisoned by carbon monoxide from a generator. "It appears as though they were sleeping," Princess Anne Police Chief Scott Keller tells the AP. "Probably it was bedtime and they decided they needed some light and probably some heat. Even though it was spring, we were having some pretty chilly nights." Todd was a kitchen worker at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, where his supervisor tells the Sun he was a private man who didn't ask for help. "He was just low-key. Took care of his kids," she says. "I'm just numb. Like it's a nightmare, but it's not," the children's mother, whose divorce from Todd was finalized last fall, tells the AP. "If I had known he was without electricity, I would have helped." She says she paid child support until she lost track of the family when Todd last moved.