Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death deferred amid ongoing investigation
Lisa Marie Presley's cause of death is unknown, almost one week after her sudden passing. An autopsy was completed on the singer-songwriter, who died last Thursday after going into cardiac arrest. However the Los Angeles County Coroner ordered more tests before making a determination.
"Presley was examined on Jan. 14 and the cause of death was deferred. Deferred means that after an autopsy, a cause of death has not been determined and the medical examiner is requesting more investigation into the death, including additional studies. Once the tests/studies come back, the doctor evaluates the case again and makes the cause of death determination," spokeswoman Sarah Ardalani tells Yahoo Entertainment.
Lisa Marie, the only child of Elvis Presley, was pronounced dead on Jan. 12 at West Hills hospital at 5:08 p.m. PT. She was two weeks away from her 55th birthday.
Ardalani will not comment on what specific tests are being run as she tells Yahoo it's "an ongoing death investigation."
There is no ongoing police investigation, a Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department spokesperson confirmed to Yahoo Entertainment, who said "this case is being handled by the Coroner's office."
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta said there are a number of reasons for the deferral, as a person's medical history may be examined.
"There are things on an initial autopsy, trauma, stroke, significant infections, blood clots, pulmonary embolism," he said. "If you see those and they’re obvious within the initial physical autopsy, they may come back with a cause of death. But there are things that are deferred."
Funeral preparations are underway at Graceland, Elvis's iconic estate in Memphis, Tennessee, which is where Lisa Marie will be laid to rest. A celebration of life ceremony is scheduled to take place on the front lawn on Sunday. Lisa Marie will be buried next to her beloved son, Benjamin Keough, who died by suicide in 2020. Her burial spot was being excavated earlier on Wednesday, which will be across from her famous father, according to TMZ. Elvis died of a heart attack at Graceland in 1977.
Lisa Marie went into cardiac arrest at her home in the Calabasas-Agoura Hills neighborhood, just two days following her high-profile appearance at the Golden Globe Awards. A housekeeper made a frantic 911 call after finding the singer unresponsive. The New York Post obtained audio of the call, which ends with a man, believed to be Lisa Marie's ex-husband Danny Keough, taking over to speak with the operator.
Last week, TMZ reported that Danny performed CPR on Lisa Marie until paramedics arrived. She apparently regained a pulse at the scene before she was transported to the hospital and placed on life support. Danny and Lisa Marie, who divorced in 1994, were very close. Aside from Ben, they shared 33-year-old daughter, actress Riley Keough. Lisa Marie went on to have two more children, 14-year-old twins Harper and Finley, with fourth husband Michael Lockwood. All three kids will inherit Graceland following their mom's unexpected death.
Editor's note: This post was originally published on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 12:50 p.m. ET and has been updated to reflect the latest information from the sheriff's department.
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