Singer and rapper Aaron Carter accidentally drowned in his bathtub after taking prescription pills and inhaling gas used in spray cleaners, a coroner’s report revealed on Tuesday.
The Los Angeles County medical examiner-coroner said Carter, 34, had recently taken alprazolam, the generic form of Xanax, and inhaled difluoroethane, a gas commonly used in cans of compressed air, before his death. Difluoroethane was identified by the coroner as a substance that “can induce feelings of euphoria when inhaled.”
As per TMZ, the first outlet to report the news, Carter reportedly became “incapacitated while in the bathtub due to the effects” of drugs and inhaled gas. While dressed in a T-shirt and necklace, Carter reportedly slipped under the water and drowned.
Carter, a 1990s heartthrob, died in his Lancaster, Calif., home on Nov. 5, 2022. The coroner’s report identified him as “a celebrity with a known history of substance abuse” who had “multiple interactions with local police relating to the substance abuse.”
He was found dead by a woman identified in the report as both a “house sitter” and “housekeeper.” She had reportedly brought him a coffee on Nov. 5 and received no answer when she knocked on the door. When she let herself into the residence, she discovered Carter submerged in the bath.
The housekeeper called 911 and was told to perform CPR. Paramedics declared Carter dead upon arrival at his home.
A police report included alongside the autopsy findings claimed the last people to see Carter alive were sheriff’s deputies the night prior to his death. They performed a welfare check after Carter was seen “huffing” a canned gas during an Instagram Live video. Carter reportedly asked the officers to leave his home.
In a statement to TMZ, Carter’s ex-fiancée and mother of his one-year-old son, Melanie Martin, said the autopsy is “not closure for me.”
“I am still in shock and still miss Aaron every day. I don’t understand the chain of events and this report only has us asking more questions,” she said.
Carter is the brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter. His 2000 album, Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), sold three million copies and produced hit singles, including the title song and I Want Candy. His videos received regular airplay on Disney and Nickelodeon.
In 2009, Carter appeared on the ABC competition show Dancing with the Stars, finishing in fifth place with partner Karina Smirnoff.
Carter’s fifth and final studio album, LOVE, was released in 2018.
— With files from The Associated Press
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