Source: Maury Phillips / Getty
The cause of death for Josie Harris, the former longtime girlfriend of boxing champion Floyd Mayweather, has been revealed. According to TMZ, her autopsy revealed that Harris died due to an accidental overdose of fentanyl. She was 40-years-old.
“The family is aware the medical examiner has released the report and they are thankful for the closure,” Harris’ family attorney Dan Friedlander said in a statement to TMZ. “Josie will be remembered as a truly kind and giving person and loving mother. She was loved and will be missed.”
Harris was found unresponsive in her car in March outside of her home in Valencia, California.
Mayweather and Harris dated on-and-off from 1995 to 2010 and they have three children together, Koraun, Zion and Jirah. Their relationship had many ups and downs with accusations of domestic violence and drug abuse. In 2011, Mayweather was sentenced to serve 90 days in prison after being convicted of battery against Harris. In 2015, Mayweather addressed the incident in an interview with Katie Couric and said he was only restraining Harris because she was under the influence of drugs. This led to Harris firing back with a $20 million defamation lawsuit against him, which was still an ongoing case when she passed away.
In an USA Today interview in 2014, Harris spoke openly about her relationship with Mayweather and said before they would come into contact with each other, she would take anxiety medication.
“(It means) I don’t have to take a Xanax before he comes, otherwise I will be sweating bullets,” she said. “For some reason I still get anxiety when I know that he is on his way. I have no idea why, but I get really overwhelmed when I know that I have to be around him.”
Harris also said it took some time for her to realize her relationship with Mayweather was toxic.
“I was a battered woman,” Harris added. “I felt embarrassed about saying I was a battered woman. I felt shame. I felt like it was my fault. What did I do? I didn’t understand what a battered woman was at that time. Now I know I was in a very dysfunctional, hostile relationship and a victim of domestic violence.”
Before her death, Harris was reportedly writing a tell-all book about her rocky relationship with Mayweather.
