Global Courant 2023-04-19 05:28:29
Singer and rapper Aaron Carter accidentally drowned in his bathtub due to sedatives he ingested and gas he used in cleaning sprays he inhaled, a coroner’s report said Tuesday.
Carter, the younger brother of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, was found submerged in the bathtub of his home in Lancaster, California, on Nov. 5, 2022, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner autopsy report. He was 34.
Sheriff’s deputies were the last people to see Carter alive when they visited his home for a welfare check at 2 a.m. on Nov. 4 after he was seen and heard “snorting” an inhaler on a live video posted to Instagram, according to a police report included in the autopsy findings. He asked the deputies to leave, and they did.
The autopsy revealed that the sedative alprazolam, often sold under the brand name Xanax, was found in his system, as well as the compressed gas difluoroethane, which the report says is “a gas commonly used as a propellant in air spray cleaners.” According to the report, the gas “may induce feelings of euphoria when inhaled.”
The two substances incapacitated him in the bath and caused the drowning, the report said.
Carter can be seen during Fashion’s Night Out on Thursday September 6, 2012 in New York. The singer has been open about his battle with substance abuse for years, describing his problems with inhalants in a 2019 episode of the talk show The Doctors. (Donald Traill/Invision/The Associated Press)
Later that night, after officers checked Carter, he missed an appointment with a drug counselor, the police report said.
The next day, authorities called a house sitter at the time, but who was a “housekeeper” according to the report, came to Carter’s house to offer him coffee. She let herself in when she got no response and heard his dogs barking, according to the report.
The woman found him submerged, wearing a T-shirt and necklace, in a Jacuzzi-style bathtub with spinning jets, and called 911. The operator told her to get him out and resuscitate him, according to the report. Paramedics pronounced him dead immediately upon arrival.
Investigators found several prescription bottles and several scattered cans of an electronic duster he had used to inhale.
The report referred to Carter as “a celebrity with a known history of substance abuse” who had “multiple interactions with local law enforcement regarding the substance abuse.” It cited a certain history of abuse of inhalants and a recent relapse.
Singer was open about struggles
Carter began performing as a child in the 1990s, opening for such acts as his brother’s boy band and Britney Spears. His career peak came in 2000 with the triple platinum album Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), which spawned hit singles including the title track and I Want Candy.
He also made appearances on television shows, including Lizzie McGuire, and appeared on the family reality show House of Carters and Dancing With the Stars.
Carter has been open about his battle with substance abuse for years, describing his problems with inhalants in a 2019 episode of the talk show The Doctors. He also said in the interview that he was on medication for acute anxiety and bipolar disorder.
After his younger brother’s death, Nick Carter said, “I always held onto the hope that somehow he would one day want to walk a sane path and finally find the help he so desperately needed.”
