An official cause of death has been released for Bobbie Jean Carter, who was the younger sister of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter, and who died on Dec. 23, 2023 at the age of 41.
Bobbie Jean died of an accidental fatal drug overdose, according to TMZ, who obtained legal documents from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner in Florida, where Bobbie Jean died.
Her official cause of death was “intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine,” and was ruled as accidental.
According to the original reports of her death, Bobbie Jean was discovered unresponsive on her bathroom floor by a roommate early in the morning on Dec. 23, 2023.
Her death marked the third tragic, untimely death in the Carter sibling group. She died just over a year after her younger brother, pop star Aaron Carter, died at the age of 34. His cause of death was ruled as an accidental drowning. The coroner’s report also listed substance abuse as a cause of death; a sedative called alprazolam (often sold as Xanax) as well as an inhalant substance called difluoroethane were found in Aaron’s system.
Bobbie Jean was a fixture on the reality television show House of Carters, which ran for eight episodes in 2006. The series followed Nick Carter and his four younger siblings — some of whom, like Aaron, were musical artists themselves — as they attempted to find new direction in their careers and build relationships with each other.
She is survived by a daughter named Bella. Shortly after Billie Jean’s death, her mother Jane Carter spoke to TMZ about the grief and shock the family was facing, and made special mention of how the tragedy affected Bella, who was eight years old at the time.
“[H]owever deeply a parent feels the loss of a child, the suffering of a young child at the loss of a parent must be much greater,” Jane said. “So, I would ask the sympathetic to say a prayer for my precious eight year old granddaughter Bella, who previously lost her father and is now also left without her mother.”
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Gallery Credit: Carena Liptak