Authorities have yet to release a cause of death for Aaron Carter, who was found dead in his bathtub last November, but two close relations now reportedly believe he died by overdose.
The “Aaron’s Party” singer’s mother, Jane Carter, and his fiancée, Melanie Martin, told TMZ on Tuesday that the L.A. County Coroner’s Office informed them there was no fluid in Carter’s lungs, which eliminates drowning as a potential cause. The women also reportedly want police to investigate an alleged drug deal they believe took place on the night of his death.
On Nov. 5, police found Carter, 34, unresponsive in the bathtub at his home in Lancaster, California. TMZ reported at the time that police had responded to a 911 call in which they were told a male had drowned in a bathtub. Absent that possibility, however, TMZ now reports that Martin and Carter’s mother believe he overdosed; they told the tabloid that they’re still waiting on toxicology results.
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Martin, who has retained possession of Carter’s phone, told TMZ Tuesday that she found text messages in which an unknown person told the singer that he owed $800 for an undisclosed substance. Martin has reportedly shared the conversation with police as evidence. The exchange allegedly ended after Carter asked if he was being threatened.
In those messages, Martin said Carter also expressed that he didn’t need the substance anymore—to which the unidentified person on the other end said he still owed the money.
Last November, TMZ reported that one day before he was found dead, Carter missed his last scheduled rehabilitation therapy session. Police reportedly found prescription pill bottles and multiple cans of compressed air in his home, but Martin and Jane Carter want police to investigate the possibility that Carter met with whomever he was chatting with on the day of his death—and that whatever substance he allegedly might have obtained could be the cause of his death.
Carter’s manager, Taylor Helgeson, reportedly told The U.S Sun that his client had appeared “optimistic” during their final conversations about new music he’d been working on. As Carter prepared to record, Helgeson recalled, “it was the first time in a while that I’d seen him so excited.” Still, he noted that during his last days, Carter had also been erratic and missed multiple planned appearances and meetings.
Weeks before his death, police conducted a wellness check at Carter’s home after fans called in with concerns that he was overdosing on Instagram Live. (At one point during his stream, TMZ reported that the screen went black and fans observed what they thought sounded like spraying and inhaling.) Police told TMZ they found no drugs, no evidence of criminal activity, and no signals of attempted suicide. When reached for comment, Carter told TMZ, “I’m tired of people coming after me so I trolled everybody.”
The week before his death, police pulled Carter over as he drove an RV. They were responding to a call about a driver weaving through traffic and possibly under the influence, but his field sobriety test came back clear, according to TMZ.
Carter discussed huffing during a 2019 episode of the syndicated talk show The Doctors. The singer said his late sister, Leslie—who died at the age of 25 in 2012 from an overdose—had introduced him to the habit when he was a teenager but said that he didn’t begin heavily using until his twenties. Eventually, he said, “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.”
During that episode, Carter also told the Doctors hosts that he’d been diagnosed with multiple personality disorder, schizophrenia, acute anxiety, and manic depressive disorder. “I’m prescribed to Xanax, Seroquel, gabapentin, hydroxyzine, trazodone, omeprazole,” he said.
Carter first rose to fame in 1997 at the age of 9, when he released his self-titled album. He frequently toured with his older brother, Nick Carter, and his boy band the Backstreet Boys. In 2000 came his second album, Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), which went triple platinum. Carter would become a fixture on Nickelodeon and later in reality television with the short-lived family reality show House of Carters as well as appearances on Dancing with the Stars, The Doctors, Marriage Boot Camp: Reality Stars, and more.
