Maria Fernandes seemed tireless. “She used to work like three shifts every day,” one co-worker commented.
However, on Monday, she pulled her car into a parking lot to catch a little sleep between her overnight job and her day shift at another.
She never woke up.
Police in Elizabeth, New Jersey said carbon monoxide poisoning killed Fernandes after a gas can she kept in her car turned over.
Fernandes had just bought the car after years of riding the bus or train. After running out of gas a couple of times, she decided to keep extra fuel with her.
"This sounds like someone who tried desperately to work and make ends meet, and met with a tragic accident," Elizabeth police Lt. Daniel Saulnier told the Newark Star-Ledger.
Friends say Fernandes never made much money but was always willing to share what she had. It was the first day of work she ever missed.
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