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    March 22, 2012

Coroner: Whitney Houston Drowned Accidentally, Cocaine in System

   VOA News
   Photo: ASSOCIATED PRESS
   Recording artist Whitney Houston performs at the 2004 World Music
   Awards Wednesday, Sept. 15, 2004, at the Thomas and Mack Arena in Las
   Vegas. (AP Photo/Eric Jamison)

   Medical authorities have ruled that the death of U.S. music star
   Whitney Houston last month was due to accidental drowning and the
   effects of cocaine use and heart disease.
   The Los Angeles County Coroner's office made the announcement Thursday,
   saying no foul play is suspected. Houston's manager and sister-in-law,
   Patricia Houston, says the family is "saddened" to learn of the results
   but glad to have closure.
   The finding ends weeks of speculation about the cause of death for the
   troubled singer, who had battled drug and alcohol addiction for years.
   A final coroner's report will be available for release in about two
   weeks.
   The 48-year-old Houston was found dead in the bathtub of her Los
   Angeles, California hotel room on February 11, the day before the
   Grammy awards ceremony that brings together some of the biggest stars
   in the U.S. music industry.
   Houston herself won six Grammys in a singing career that spanned nearly
   three decades. On February 19, a day after a star-studded, televised
   funeral, she was buried in a private ceremony in her home state of New
   Jersey.

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