Aaron Carter's cause of death revealed 5 months after his passing
Aaron Carter drowned after taking prescription pills and huffing compressed air. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner ruled his death an accident. Carter was 34.
According to records viewed by Yahoo Entertainment, Carter's cause of death is listed as drowning due to effects of difluoroethane and Alprazolam. Difluoroethane is a compressed gas and Carter was open about his addiction to huffing or "dusting." Alprazolam, generic form of the prescription Xanax, is used to treat anxiety.
Carter was found dead in the bathtub of his Lancaster, Calif. home on Nov. 5. TMZ obtained the full autopsy report which claims Carter was "incapacitated while in the bathtub due to the effects" of the drugs. He slipped under the water and accidentally drowned. However, some of the musician's loved ones do not believe that.
Melanie Martin, Carter's ex-fiancée and mother of his son Prince, 1, told TMZ the autopsy findings "are not closure."
"It claims death is by drowning but also adds he was wearing a T-shirt and necklace in the bathtub which doesn't make sense, why would he be in a bathtub with clothes on? 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 added.
Back in March, Carter's mother, Jane, shared graphic photos from the scene of his death seemingly doubting how he passed away.
"Still trying to get a real investigation for the death of my son Aaron Carter," she wrote on social media. "I want to share these death scene photos with you all because the coroner wrote it off as an accidental drug overdose. They never investigated it as a possible crime scene because of his addiction past."
Police reportedly found evidence of compressed air canisters and medications in Carter's primary bedroom and bathroom after his death. Carter, the younger brother of Backstreet Boys singer, Nick Carter, opened up about his addiction struggles to huffing years ago.
"It's something that I've kept secret from the whole world until now," he said on a 2019 episode of The Doctors.
"I started when I was about 16. My sister Leslie, who passed away from an overdose, got me into it. Didn't really touch it [again] until I was about 23, right after I did Dancing With the Stars [in 2009]," Carter said of his addiction to huffing. "I started going to Staples and Office Depot and different places, buying it with cash so it wouldn't be reported on receipts or anything like that, so no one could trace me. I was huffing because I was really f***ing stupid and sad, but this is really no excuse, really. I was huffing because I'm a drug addict."
Carter went to rehab multiple times and was working to get sober for his son. In September, he voluntarily sought treatment to stop smoking weed as he lost custody of Prince. Martin often posts tributes to Carter on social media.
