Following the April passing of rap legend DMX, his official cause of death has now been revealed.
DMX died from a cocaine-induced heart attack that caused a lack of blood circulation to his brain, the Westchester County medical examiner's office has ruled.
As a source from the medical examiner's office told Vulture, "It was cardiac arrest for a period of time, so there was no circulation to the brain," adding that acute cocaine intoxication had "caused this chain of events."
As previously reported, the rap icon born Earl Simmons died on April 9 at the age of 50 after being hospitalized and put on life support on April 2. It was previously reported that DMX had suffered a heart attack, as well as a drug overdose, though reports up to this point have been inconsistent, making his exact cause of death unclear.
While the medical examiner's office did not perform an autopsy, it found the presence of cocaine in DMX's urine, according to the source. The newly revealed cause of death was in turn based upon documentation gathered by medical professionals and police, the source told Vulture.
"His death literally happened immediately because the brain was dead," the source added. "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."
In June, the posthumous DMX album Exodus was released.
DMX died from a cocaine-induced heart attack that caused a lack of blood circulation to his brain, the Westchester County medical examiner's office has ruled.
As a source from the medical examiner's office told Vulture, "It was cardiac arrest for a period of time, so there was no circulation to the brain," adding that acute cocaine intoxication had "caused this chain of events."
As previously reported, the rap icon born Earl Simmons died on April 9 at the age of 50 after being hospitalized and put on life support on April 2. It was previously reported that DMX had suffered a heart attack, as well as a drug overdose, though reports up to this point have been inconsistent, making his exact cause of death unclear.
While the medical examiner's office did not perform an autopsy, it found the presence of cocaine in DMX's urine, according to the source. The newly revealed cause of death was in turn based upon documentation gathered by medical professionals and police, the source told Vulture.
"His death literally happened immediately because the brain was dead," the source added. "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."
In June, the posthumous DMX album Exodus was released.
