Texas Boy Who Died Playing Hide-and-Seek Was Electrocuted

A game of hide-and-seek among children took a deadly turn in east Houston, and now an autopsy begins to explain why. Fernando Hernandez Jr., 10, was found unresponsive in a clothes dryer on Friday night, and ABC13 reports the cause of death was electrocution, per the Harris County Medical Examiner's office. Authorities provided no additional details, and the Washington Post notes that it searched online for similar stories and general warnings about dryers and didn't find news of something like this happening previously. KHOU's video report indicates the incident happened in the large laundry room available to his apartment building's tenants.

Mom Christina Rodriguez says her 9-year-old alerted her to her son's condition, and "my boyfriend picked him up and brought him into the house. He was purple and his eyes were open and he was gone." Fernando later died at a hospital. A detective with the Houston Police Department confirms to the Chronicle that "the juveniles were playing hide-and-seek, and the juveniles were the ones who found him unresponsive." (This teen was electrocuted while using her cellphone in a bath.)