A recent autopsy report has confirmed the cause of death of Robert Barisford “Bobby” Brown Jr., son of R&B icon Bobby Brown.
Bobby Jr. was found dead on November 18, 2020, in his L.A. area home. He was 28 years old.
According to NBC, a 15-page autopsy and toxicology report released on Monday via the Los Angeles County coroner confirmed Bobby Jr. died from the “combined effects of alcohol, cocaine and fentanyl.” The report went on to confirm that “no drugs or drug paraphernalia” were found at the scene where Bobby Jr. was found dead. TMZ reports that the cause of death was deemed accidental and that “a witness told police Bobby Jr. had downed tequila and snorted half a Percocet and the cocaine.”
On the Thursday following Bobby Jr.’s death, Mr. Brown released a statement that read, “Please keep my family in your prayers at this time. Losing my son at this point in our lives has devastated my family. There are no words to explain the pain.”
As The Root reported back in November:
Bobby Jr., whose mother is Kim Ward, was born Nov. 26, 1992, and was one of Brown’s seven children. He was the half-brother of Bobbi Kristina who died at the age of 22 in July 2015, several months after she was found unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home. When Bobby Jr. was 13 years old, he also appeared on Being Bobby Brown, the popular reality show his father starred in with late ex-wife Whitney Houston.
The recent news is a highly unfortunate added detail in the continuous bouts of tragedy following the Brown family when it comes to substance abuse. Following Houston’s death in February 2012, an autopsy and toxicology report found a cocktail of drugs in the late singer’s system, including cocaine. After Bobbi Kristina was found unconscious in 2015 under circumstances that eerily paralleled her mother’s death, a medical examiner determined “that marijuana and alcohol were involved in her death, along with medications used for sedation or to treat anxiety.” Houston’s cause of death was confirmed as “accidental drowning, with heart disease and cocaine use contributing factors” while Bobbi’s cause of death was ultimately confirmed as “lobar pneumonia.”
We continue to send our prayers and well wishes to Mr. Brown and the family.