An autopsy has been conducted on the body of singer, rapper and former teen heartthrob Aaron Carter but his cause of death was not yet determined, authorities said Monday.
Carter, who struggled with addiction and other issues, was found dead Saturday, Nov. 5, in a bathtub at his home in Lancaster.
The coroner’s office website indicated an autopsy was conducted but the cause of Carter’s death was “deferred pending additional investigation.”
He was the younger brother of the Backstreet Boys’ Nick Carter, and opened for the famous boy band in the late 1990s as well as for Britney Spears during her “Oops! … I Did It Again Tour.”
“My heart has been broken today,” Nick Carter posted on Instagram. “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.
“Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here. I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz, now you get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth … God, please take care of my baby brother,” Nick Carter.
Aaron Carter’s twin sister, Angel, also took to Instagram, posting: “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.”
Actress Hilary Duff, the former star of Disney’s popular “Lizzie McGuire” where Carter appeared in the 2001 episode “Aaron Carter’s Coming to Town” shared her remembrance on Instagram. “For Aaron-I’m deeply sorry that life was so hard for you and that you had to struggle in front of the whole world,” she wrote. “You had a charm that was absolutely effervescent … boy did my teenage self love you deeply. Sending love to your family at this time. Rest easy.”
Firefighters and paramedics were dispatched Saturday, Nov. 5, to a home in the area of Valley Vista Drive and Avenue L-6 in Lancaster, regarding a drowning, according to a Los Angeles County Fire Department dispatcher. A watch commander at the sheriff’s Lancaster station told City News Service deputies were dispatched at 10:58 a.m. to a home on the 42000 block of Valley Vista Drive.
“We went there for a person not breathing and he was pronounced dead,” the watch commander said.
In addition to his brother and son, Carter is survived by his mother, Jane, and two sisters, his twin, Angel, and B.J.
