Tameka Hargrave: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know

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Tameka Hargrave died inside a New Jersey parking garage, and law enforcement sources told two east coast news outlets that she and a mechanic succumbed to what appears to be likely carbon monoxide poisoning inside a running car.

Hargrave and the other man – identified as her unidentified mechanic by NBC News – were discovered just before 9 p.m. on July 9, 2018 at an apartment complex on 18th and New Fairview avenues in Newark, New Jersey. Tragically, Hargrave’s husband, Kahali Johnson, found the bodies. Multiple news outlets have reported that Hargrave and the mechanic were allegedly having sex when overcome by the fumes, but law enforcement authorities have not officially confirmed that information.

Here’s what you need to know:


1. One News Account Alleges That Hargrave & the Mechanic Died ‘Mid-Tryst’

Although authorities have not formally confirmed these details, NBC News reported, without naming Hargrave or the mechanic, that they were allegedly engaged in a romantic encounter when they died.

NBC4 New York reported, according to law enforcement sources, that “the pair apparently died of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex.”

That account says the man and woman were found inside the car, not near it. NJ.com also reported that, according to a law enforcement source, the husband discovered “his wife and the mechanic she was having sex with dead after they were overcome by carbon monoxide in the couple’s garage.”


2. Kahali Johnson Says He Found the Two Bodies

Kahali Johnson, Tameka’s husband, told ABC 7 that he found the bodies. he went to investigate in the garage after smelling exhaust, and discovered the bodies, the television station reported. This story alleges that law enforcement sources say “Hargrave was found on the ground, and that the man was a mechanic looking at her vehicle.”

“As I tried to step to open the last garage door, I see the mechanic, he’s laid out,” Johnson said to ABC 7. “She’s just a few feet away, she’s laid out. And pretty much I had to call 911, because at this time, with that level of emissions, I knew that they were gone.”

Tameka was 41-years-old, and the car mechanic was 56.


3. Police Think the Deaths Were Accidental

According to The Associated Press, authorities are still investigating the deaths. However, they believe they are accidental deaths, AP reported.

On LinkedIn, Kahali Johnson says he works in security. His Facebook page has been deleted, as has Tameka’s. Online records say they were from Newark, New Jersey.

Police have not released the names of the victims nor any specific details on how the deaths occurred, NJ.com reported. NJ.com reported that the two victims were inside the “running vehicle.”


4. Tameka Hargrave’s Mother Described Tameka as Her ‘World’

Tameka’s grieving father and mother expressed grief in an interview with CBS Local, with the father saying the death had left him shocked. “I don’t know what I’m going to do without her,” her mother said. “She was everything to me. She was my world.”

The mother said she had just spoken to Hargrave and “around 5:30 she said she was going to AutoZone to get the oil filter from her mechanic to put it on,” CBS reported, quoting a friend as saying Tameka’s loved ones aren’t sure why she was in the car.

Hargrave leaves behind two children. “I just want my mother back. I want her to see me graduate high school. I can’t do that,” daughter Khalisha Johnson told CBS. “They have cameras and stuff. Why can’t they get smoke detectors? We could have stopped this right here. My mother could still be alive.”


5. Johnson Blamed Inadequate Alarm Systems for the Deaths

The grieving husband, Johnson, is blaming the alarm systems in the garage.

“Basically she died because of carbon monoxide,” Johnson said, according to Fox News. “They do not have adequate alarm systems, because if there had been an alarm in that garage, people would have been alerted to the fact that it was going on.”