Westchester County medical examiner reportedly confirms DMX’s cause of death

Jonathan Mannion

hree months after DMX‘s untimely passing, a cause of death has been revealed. 

The pioneering rapper died of a heart attack caused by cocaine use, which in turn decreased blood circulation to his brain, a source from the Westchester County medical examiner’s office told Vulture.

“His death literally happened immediately because the brain was dead,” the source noted. “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.”

Previously it had been reported that the rapper suffered a heart attack, though specifics were inconsistent. 

DMX, born Earl Simmons, died on April 9 at age 50. Prior to his passing, his attorney, Murray Richman, confirmed to WABC-TV that the hip-hop icon had been hospitalized in White Plains, New York in “grave condition.”  X was placed on life support and never recovered.

Copyright © 2021, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.