Singer Aaron Carter reportedly had numerous cans of compressed air in his bathroom and bedroom when he was discovered dead on Saturday.
Prescription medications were also reportedly found close to the body of the former teen sensation, according to law enforcement sources. At first, it wasn’t evident what kind of medications they were.
The Daily Beast was informed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department that it was unable to provide further details regarding Carter’s passing.
When used improperly for its hallucinogenic effects, compressed air, which is often packaged in cans used to dust keyboards, is known as “huffing.” Whippets, a chemical that involves breathing nitrous oxide, are also used to produce comparable euphoric, dissociative effects.
In this video, Nick Carter talks about his tumultuous relationship with his younger brother Aaron Carter.
Carter previously admitted that he was addicted to huffing on a 2019 edition of The Doctors. He asserted that his late sister Leslie Carter, who died from an overdose in 2012 at the age of 25, was the one who initially exposed him to huffing when he was a small child.
He said at the time that he had “kept it secret from the entire world until now” and that he “didn’t really touch it again” until after competing on Dancing With the Stars.
He stated, “I started going to Staples and Office Depot and other places, buying it with cash so no one could trace me,” in order to avoid having it noted on receipts or anything like.
I was huffing because I was feeling very stupid and down, but that’s hardly a very good reason. I was puffing because I’m a drug addict.”
Carter, 34, was reportedly found dead at his Lancaster, California, home on Saturday morning by his maid. The dispatch audio for a 911 call at 11 a.m. mentions a “female yelling.”
He was long open about his struggles with drug addiction. He was only recently arrested in Los Angeles on suspicion of drunk driving after evading traffic.
Carter released his debut album, Aaron Carter, when he was nine years old. His 2000 release of Aaron’s Party (Come Get It), his second album, confirmed his status as a teen idol with triple platinum sales.
He started to be associated with other young superstars in the years that followed, including Lindsay Lohan and Hilary Duff, who paid the singer tribute on Instagram and hailed his “energetic” personality.
Carter’s passing is the most recent notable inhalant-related mortality. In June, Melanie Rauscher, a previous Naked and Afraid contestant, was also found dead, with several cans of compressed air intended for cleaning computer equipment nearby.
