Five months after his sudden passing, autopsy results have revealed the cause of death for late singer Aaron Carter.
The manner of his death was ruled an accident by the Los Angeles County Department of Medical Examiner-Coroner, with the cause of death being determined as drowning, per autopsy results obtained by Variety.
Carter was under the effects of alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax, at the time and he was reportedly inhaling difluoroethane, an ingredient used in cans of compressed air, along with Xanax.
On November 5, 2022, police were called to Carter’s Los Angeles home regarding a suspicious death, according to Alejandra Parra, Los Angeles County Sheriff’s deputy.
TMZ reported that his live-in housekeeper was the one who called authorities after finding Carter unresponsive in his home.
Tributes quickly flowed in, including social media posts from his brother Nick Carter and his ex-girlfriend Hilary Duff.
“I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in front of the whole world,” she wrote.
“You had a charm that was absolutely effervescent… boy did my teenage self love you deeply.”
Carter and Duff famously dated off and on in the ’00s after he appeared on an episode of Lizzie McGuire in 2000. Their relationship turned into one of the era’s drama-filled love triangles when Carter began dating Lindsay Lohan two years later.
Friends and followers shared their support and love for the elder Carter brother with fellow Backstreet Boys AJ McLean and Kevin Richardson, Spice Girls star Emma Bunton, Pussycat Dolls lead singer Nicole Scherzinger, Joel McHale, Andy Cohen and Perez Hilton among those sending their condolences.
In 2019, Aaron Carter revealed that he had been diagnosed with multiple mental health issues in an Entertainment Tonight interview following a DUI arrest. Weeks later, his brother Nick Carter took out a restraining order against him.
In September 2022, months before his tragic death, Aaron Carter enrolled in rehab for a fifth time in hopes of regaining custody of his then-10-month-old son, Prince. He and his ex-fiancée, Melanie Martin, previously lost custody due to domestic violence and drug concerns.
RIP to the star.
