Aaron Carter, a 34-year-old singer, has died from drowning after inhaling difluoroethane and taking alprazolam, according to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner. Difluoroethane is a gas commonly found in cans of compressed air, which people can inhale to produce a high, while alprazolam is the generic form of the prescription drug Xanax.
Carter was found dead in his bathtub at his home in Lancaster, California, on November 5. According to police sources, a house sitter discovered him and his bedroom had prescription pills and drug paraphernalia. It was believed that Carter lost consciousness and drowned, slipping under the water’s surface as the drugs took effect.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time a celebrity has died in a bathtub due to accidental drowning while under the influence. Singers Whitney Houston and Dolores O’Riordan of The Cranberries were also determined to have died in their bathtubs by accidental drowning while under the influence. Houston had cocaine in her system when she died in the tub of a Los Angeles hotel room in 2012, while O’Riordan had alcohol and prescription medication in hers when she died in 2018 in a London hotel.
Carter, who released his fifth and final album, LØVË, in 2018, was remembered in emotional statements shared by his older brother Nick Carter, 42, and twin sister Angel Carter, both of whom he’d become estranged from in recent years.
Nick wrote in part, “My heart has been broken today. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded. I have always held onto the hope that he would somehow, someday, want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.”
Angel wrote, “To my twin… I loved you beyond measure. You will be missed dearly. My funny, sweet Aaron, I have so many memories of you …, and I promise to cherish them. I know you’re at peace now. I will carry you with me until the day I die and get to see you again.”
