Whitney Houston was an addictive cocaine user who had the drug in her system when she drowned in a hotel bathtub, Los Angeles officials said Thursday after releasing autopsy findings that also noted heart disease contributed to her death.
The report brought an end to weeks of confusion and speculation as to what had killed the Grammy award singer on February 11, eve of the Grammy’s.
Her death was initially ruled as an accident, having been found submerged in the bathtub filled with water. Several bottles of prescription medications were also found in her hotel room. Officials of the coroner observed that they were in excessive quantities.
"We are saddened to learn of the toxicology results, although we are glad to now have closure," said Patricia Houston, the singer's sister-in-law and manager.
Craig Harvey, Coroner's Chief of Operations, was reported to have said that cocaine and its byproducts were found in Houston's system. The drug was, therefore, listed as a contributing factor in her death.
Before her death, Houston had been attempting a comeback. She had finished filming a remake of the movie "Sparkle" in which she sang the gospel hymn "His Eye is on the Sparrow."
