The last text teen sent before being electrocuted in the bath by a frayed phone cord

Read article : The last text teen sent before being electrocuted in the bath by a frayed phone cord

Last updated 09:20, July 19 2017

The last text message of an American teen who was electrocuted in the bath by her phone charger has been released by police.

Lovington police said on Friday they had completed their investigation into the death of Madison Coe, blaming her electrocution in part on a frayed cord.

They also released what they believe was the last photo and text message the 14-year-old from New Mexico sent, in which she referred to using her phone on an extension cord while bathing.

LOVINGTON POLCE

Police say this was the last text Madison Coe sent before she was found dead by her dad in the bath.

Coe had been using her Samsung S6 Edge cellular telephone while taking a bath on July 10, according to a Lovington Police Department news release. Evidence showed she plugged her cellular phone into a phone charger cord, and it was also plugged into an extension cord.

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"(The cord) was plugged into a non-GFCI, non-grounded bathroom wall outlet," said David Miranda, public information officer for Lovington Police. "Specific evidence shows that the cellular telephone was never immersed in the water."

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Madison Coe was using her phone while in the bath.

Police said Madison texted a friend shortly before she died, saying "When you use and (sic) extension cord so you can plug your phone in while you're in the bath."

"(Coe's parents) hope this will raise awareness of the dangers that combination of electricity, water and portable electronic devices can pose to people, especially teenagers, who are the heaviest users of these devices," said Miranda.

"While the child took precautions to keep the connection of the cords dry, it is believed she was not aware of a significant area of fraying to the extension cord," Miranda added. "Forensic evidence indicates that she came in contact with this area of the frayed extension cord while she was still in the bathtub, which contained water at the time, resulting in her electrocution."

Maddison's grandmother told TV station KCBD the girl had a burn mark on her hand from where she held the phone.

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"This is such a tragedy that doesn't need to happen to anyone else," Donna O'Guinn said.

"We want something good to come out of this as awareness of not using your cell phone in the bathroom as it is plugged in and charging. She was just sweet to everybody and everybody loved her."

The teen's mother Angela O'Guinn Downs put a post on her Facebook page showing pictures of her daughter that ran with the message: "Please, please let her voice be heard and protect and educate your children on the fatal dangers of electrocution."

- Lubbock Avalanche-Journal/Stuff