Singer Aaron Carter reportedly had multiple cans of compressed air in his bedroom and bathroom when he was found dead on Saturday.
Law enforcement sources tell TMZ they also found prescription pills near the former teen heartthrob’s body. It was not immediately clear what type of pills they were.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said it could not confirm details of Carter’s death to The Daily Beast.
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Compressed air, which usually comes in the form of cans used for dusting keyboards, is sometimes abused for its psychoactive effects in a practice called “huffing.” A similar drug called whippets, which involves inhaling nitrous oxide, is used for its similar euphoric, dissociative effects.
Carter previously spoke about being addicted to huffing on a 2019 episode of The Doctors. He said his late sister Leslie Carter—who fatally overdosed in 2012 at age 25—was the one who introduced him to huffing when he was a teenager.
“It’s something that I’ve kept secret from the whole world until now,” he said at the time, saying he “didn’t really touch it again” until 2009, after he competed on Dancing With the Stars.
“I started going to Staples and Office Depot and different places, buying it with cash so it wouldn’t be reported on receipts or anything like that, so no one could trace me,” he said. “I was huffing because I was really f--king stupid and sad, but this is really no excuse. I was huffing because I’m a drug addict.”
Carter, 34, was reportedly found dead on Saturday morning by his live-in housekeeper at his home in Lancaster, California. Dispatch audio from a 911 call placed around 11 a.m. describes a “female yelling.”
The singer had openly struggled with drug addiction for years. Just last week, he was pulled over in Los Angeles on suspicion of driving under the influence after weaving through traffic.
Carter released his first album, Aaron Carter, in 1997 at age 9. His second album, 2000’s Aaron's Party (Come Get It), went three times platinum and cemented his status as a teen sensation. The ensuing years saw him linked to other teen stars like Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff, who posted a tribute to the singer on Instagram praising his “effervescent” charm.
Carter’s is the latest notable death involving the use of inhalants. In June, former Naked and Afraid contestant Melanie Rauscher was also found dead with several cans of compressed air used for cleaning computer equipment near her body. The 35-year-old was found lying in the guest room of a house where she was dog-sitting.
