Firefighters responding to a fire in the Hyde Park section of Los Angeles found Graves unconscious in a rear bedroom of her home. She was taken to Daniel Freeman Memorial Hospital in nearby Inglewood, where she died. A faulty portable space heater was determined to be the cause of the blaze. A smoke alarm in the front of the house was activated but Teresa failed to hear it. Neighbors said they didn't know of the highly religious Graves's past life as a TV star. She died of burns and smoke inhalation not long after arriving at the hospital. [October 2002]
