LOS ANGELES — Whitney Houston drowned accidentally in the bathtub of a Beverly Hills hotel room, with cocaine and heart disease playing a role in her death, the Los Angeles coroner revealed Thursday.
No trauma or foul play is suspected in the legendary singer’s demise.
PHOTO GALLERY: WHITNEY HOUSTON
Houston’s final cause of death was accidental drowning, and the effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use contributed to her death, the coroner said in a statement.
“Chances are, had she not had the pre-existing heart disease and cocaine use, she may not have drowned,” Los Angeles County Chief Coroner Investigator Craig Harvey told reporters at a press conference.
Harvey said there was evidence Houston was a chronic cocaine user and that he suspected she ingested the drug shortly before she collapsed in the bathtub in her room at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
“Cocaine causes the heart to beat faster … it can set you up for a cardiac event,” he added.
Other substances including marijuana, Xanax, Benadryl and Flexeril, a muscle relaxant, were also found in Houston’s system.
Though those substances are known to cause drowsiness, Harvey said they were not contributory factors in her death.
A full report on Houston’s autopsy will be issued in two weeks, according to the coroner’s statement.
“We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure,” Houston’s sister-in-law and manager Patricia Houston said in a statement, according to TMZ.
Houston died at age 48 on Feb. 11, the day before the Grammy Awards. Her death cast a shadow over the awards ceremony and prompted a flood of tributes from across the music world.
The legendary singer, who had a long history of substance abuse, was laid to rest Feb. 18 in her native New Jersey.
She is survived by her daughter Bobbi Kristina, 19.