Whitney Houston drowned in bath after taking cocaine

March 23, 2012

whitney


Los Angeles, March 23: Grammy-winning pop legend Whitney Houston died from accidental drowning in her hotel bathtub after taking cocaine which could have triggered a heart attack, coroners said Thursday.


Houston, who died at age 48 in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel room last month, likely had some kind of heart attack which caused her to slip under the water, said the Los Angeles County Coroner’s office.


“You have a heart condition exacerbated by cocaine use which, combined, resulted in her drowning,” spokesman Craig Harvey told AFP, adding: “We feel that there was a heart event, complicated by cocaine use,” before she drowned.


Ed Winter, deputy chief of coroner investigations, was more explicit when asked by the LA Times to explain the drowning. “She may have had a heart attack,” he told the newspaper.


She had cocaine in her body when she died, said a coroner’s office statement, which described her death as an “accident,” and the cause as “drowning” and “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use.”


“How injury occurred: found submerged in bathtub filled with water; cocaine intake,” it said, adding: “No trauma or foul play is suspected,” and that a final coroner’s report will be available for release within two weeks.


Houston was found dead on February 11, a day before the music industry’s biggest awards show, and hours ahead of a glittering pre-Grammy party in the Beverly Hilton hotel where she died.


Speculation had raged since her death that the singer may have succumbed to a lethal cocktail of prescription drugs and alcohol.


Indeed, other drugs were found in her system, but which did not contribute to her death, the coroner’s office said. They included marijuana, alprazolam (Xanax), cyclobenzaprine (Flexiril) and Diphenhydramine (Benadryl).


The TMZ celebrity news website quoted a coroner’s office official as saying Houston used cocaine “immediately prior to her collapse” — but investigators who arrived on the scene found no traces of cocaine or any other illegal drug.


That was because “an individual” removed all traces of cocaine from the room before authorities arrived, it said, adding that the person was the same one who supplied the drug to Houston.


The coroner’s office spokesman said chronic use of cocaine was likely a key factor in Houston’s death.


“Chances are, had she not had the pre-existing heart disease and cocaine use she may not have drowned,” he said. “The cocaine causes the heart to beat faster, the arteries to constrict, which could... set you up for a cardiac event.”


Houston’s shock death cast a pall over the annual gathering at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, with several tributes to the singer — and a public prayer — added to the show at the last minute.


The singer of hits including “I Will Always Love You” sold over 170 million records during a nearly three-decade career, but fought a long battle against substance abuse while trying to keep her performing talent alive.


Houston was buried a week after her death in New Jersey after an emotional farewell ceremony in the Newark baptist church where she sang as a child, which was watched worldwide.


Earlier this month it emerged that Houston had left all of her assets to her daughter Bobbi Kristina, born from her troubled marriage to singer Bobby Brown, who gets nothing.


Bobbi Kristina, who is currently 19, will inherit the proceeds from all of the late singer’s money, furniture, clothing, personal effects, jewelry, and cars, according to the will published on March 7.


A few days later Bobbi Kristina said she plans to follow her mother into show business, while the drug-troubled star’s sister-in-law admitted her untimely death could have been predicted.


The late star’s sister-in-law, Patricia Houston, said it had been possible to forecast that drugs would claim the singer’s life. “The handwriting was kind of on the wall. I would be kidding myself to say otherwise.”


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News Network
June 25,2020

Jun 25: A 16-year-old girl allegedly committed suicide at her house in east Delhi and her family members secretly buried her body, which was later exhumed for post-mortem, police said on Wednesday.

The girl, whose family hails from Jharkhand, allegedly hanged herself in a room in her house on Monday, they said.

No suicide note was recovered from the spot, police said.

Her body was exhumed on Tuesday as per the directions of the Sub Divisional Magistrate of the area. The process was carried out as her family members secretly buried her without informing the police.

The post-mortem will be conducted after Covid-19 tests, police said.

The incident took place on Monday. The reason behind her taking the extreme step is yet to be ascertained, they said.

Police said the girl lived with her mother and two siblings. The family hails from Jharkhand and are financially extremely weak. Her father died two years ago, they said.

After the father’s death, the girl's mother along with her siblings took her body to a burial ground and buried her, police said.

The police said the matter came to their notice after a neighbour alerted them about it. Following the information the body was exhumed, they said.

On questioning the girl's mother, she told police that she didn't know that one has to inform police in a suicide case, a senior police officer said.

Inquest proceedings have been initiated, police said.

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Agencies
June 10,2020

Thiruvananthapuram, Jun 10: The man who fled from the Medical College Hospital where he was undergoing treatment for COVID-19 committed suicide on Wednesday morning after being brought back. He used his bed sheet to hang himself from the ceiling.

Hailing from Anad near Nedumangadu, the man, who was undergoing treatment in the isolation room set up at KHRWS pay ward, escaped from the hospital and boarded two KSRTC buses to reach his home.

The Health Department had said the latest tests had returned negative and he was to be discharged on Wednesday. However, City Police Commissioner Balram Kumar Upadhyay had claimed that one more test result of the person was awaited.

The man was blocked by locals upon his arrival at Anad. He was later taken back to the hospital and the police had registered a case against him under the Kerala Public Health Act and Epidemic Diseases Ordinance.

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News Network
May 1,2020

Lucknow, May 1: Six members of a family were allegedly hacked to death by another family member over a property dispute in Gudauli village in the Banthra area on the outskirts of the city on Thursday, police said.

The accused, Ajay Singh (26), went to the local police station after committing the crime and surrendered, they added.

Singh allegedly had a heated argument with the family members over a property and attacked them with a sharp-edged weapon, the police said.

The accused allegedly killed his mother, father, elder brother, his wife and two children -- a son and a daughter -- they added.

The victims were identified as Amar (60), Ramsakhi (55), Arun (40), Ramdulari (35), Saurabh (7) and Sarika (2).

When asked, Commissioner of Police Sujeet Pandey said six members of a family were killed and the accused surrendered before the police.

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