Source: Mark Davis / Getty
It has been three months since Hip-hop legend Earl “DMX” Simmons passed away. Now, his loved ones and fans are getting more details on his tragic and untimely death.
According to Vulture, on July 8, a source from the Westchester County Medical Examiner’s office told the outlet that DMX’s death is officially listed as a cardiac arrest due to cocaine intoxication.
“It was cardiac arrest for a period of time, so there was no circulation to the brain,” the source said, before adding that consumption of the illegal substance was what subsequently led to the lethal “chain of events” which caused the rapper’s death.
The source shared that on April 2 someone had called 911 for help just after 10:03 p.m. Paramedics arrived on the scene at 10:09 p.m., and proceeded to perform a cardiopulmonary resuscitation on the rapper which began at 10:10 p.m and went on for 30-40 minutes while they transferred him from his home to the White Plains hospital where he spent his final days.
“His death literally happened immediately because the brain was dead,” the source told the outlet. “So obviously, there were a number of days where he was on ventilatory support and so forth in the hospital… However, he was diagnosed brain-dead early on… He never woke up from [a] coma.”
As MADAMENOIRE reported, DMX was initially hospitalized due to an alleged “drug overdose” that triggered a heart attack. At the time, TMZ shared that the rapper was in a “vegetative state.”
On April 4, when the rapper’s family released an update on his hospitalization, they’d mentioned, “Earl has been a warrior his entire life.”
Simmons passed away at the age of 50 on April 9. His memorial service was held on April 24 at the Barclays Center, where countless friends, family, fellow musicians, and fans came to honor the hip-hop icon. His posthumous album, Exodus, which featured collabs with “Jay-Z, Nas, Moneybagg Yo, Swizz Beatz, The Lox, and more” was released on May 28.
According to XXL, “The source additionally told Vulture that an analysis of Simmons’ urine displayed the presence of cocaine, adding that the medical examiner’s office did not perform an autopsy and determined the cause of death using documentation provided by medical professionals and police.”
