Just two weeks after the Los Angeles County coroner’s office released Whitney Houston’s official cause of death saying the singer died from an accidental drowning due to cocaine usage, officials have now released her final autopsy report.
According to the coroner, Houston complained of a sore throat the day of her death, and her assistant suggested she take a bath to relax before attending Clive Davis’ pre-Grammy party that evening. By the time the assistant returned, Houston had drowned in the bathtub and water soaked the floor.
The Associated Press reports:
The report delivered a grim accounting of Houston’s final hours nearly three months ago. The singer complained of a sore throat before an assistant suggested she take a bath before the start of a pre-Grammy Awards gala. By the time the assistant returned, Houston had drowned and was lying face down in the tub.
Investigators who scoured the room later found in the bathroom a “spoon with a white crystal like substance in it,” and a white powdery substance in a drawer and on a mirror, according the report. The report does not specifically identify the substances as cocaine, although toxicology tests discovered the drug in Houston’s heart and extremities.
Investigators found a hole in Houston’s nose and heart damage, which are signs of longterm drug abuse. Despite her struggles with substance abuse, Houston’s friends and family thought she overcame her demons, but tragically she hadn’t.
Houston died just a day before the Grammy Awards, and months before her comeback film Sparkle could be released.