Police: 84-year-old Milwaukee man found dead inside apartment after power outage caused by severe weather

 

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) -- An 84-year-old man is dead after police said Friday's severe weather may have caused the power in his apartment to go out, leading his electric oxygen unit to fail.

On Sunday, the Milwaukee medical examiner identified the man as Alton Smith who lived on N. Lovers Ln Rd. 

Police said Smith's niece, Sheila, found him lying on the ground in his apartment's living room on Saturday afternoon.

She had come over the night before around 9:30 to check on him. 

Neighbors told officials the power had gone out just 30 minutes later.

When police arrived on scene Saturday a little after 3 p.m., they found an oxygen tank on one side of Smith and a plug-in oxygen unit on the other, records said.

The power had not yet been restored.

Officials said the inside of the apartment was "uncomfortably hot" and that there was "no thermostat observed in the home."

According to relatives, Smith did not drink alcohol, smoke tobacco or use any illegal drugs. 

There was no trauma or other injuries observed on his body.

This incident is still under investigation.