Aaron Carter's mother has shared distressing images of the bathroom he died in as she slammed cops for failing to treat the death as a "potential homicide."
Carter died in November 2022 and was found deceased in a bathtub in his home in Lancaster, California, and an autopsy was performed but his cause of death was deferred pending toxicology results.
On Wednesday (March 1) Jane Schneck took to Facebook to share photographs of the scene where the 34-year-old died on November 5 last year.
She had voiced her concerns that her son's death was being treated as drug-related due to his history of substance abuse, without a proper investigation into whether foul play may have been involved.
The images shared by Schneck paint a disturbing picture - the bathtub where Carter was found was filled with green, murky water and had a ring of dark sludge around it. Several items of clothing including a grey Champion hoodie were seen on the floor in another image, on top of more stains.
"Still trying to get a real investigation for the death of my son Aaron Carter. I want to share these death scene photos with you all because the coroner wrote it off as an accidental drug overdose. They never investigated it as a possible crime scene because of his addiction past," Schneck wrote on Facebook.
"Look at the photos. They were not taken by the police. But they allowed people to go in and out. although a lot of potential homicide information was there for years. Aaron had a lot of death threats and many many people who were making his life miserable [sic]," she added.
Warning: The below images may be disturbing to someIn a follow-up post, Schneck hit out at the police who first responded to Carter's death, writing: "I'm totally supported by the family and friends who know I had to post the awful photos. It's because we are not and have not been taken seriously by Law Enforcement in especially Lancaster [California]. They allowed everyone to tromp through what should have been at least an investigation."
She continued: "Because of my son's mental illness and prescription drug issues they just wanted it to be something easy that they didn't have the time or inclination to address. This won't work for me or Melanie [Carter's former partner] or anyone who truly loved him. We want answers. We want justice. There are people who must be held accountable."
Carter experienced great difficulty growing up in the spotlight, having skyrocketed to fame as a youngster after releasing his first album aged 10. His older brother Nick Carter was a member of the Backstreet Boys, so a young Aaron would often go on tour with the band.
In 2019, Carter revealed on US talk show The Doctors that he had struggled with addiction, having been first introduced to it by his older sister Leslie Carter, who sadly died from a drug overdose herself in 2012 aged 25. "It's something that I've kept secret from the whole world until now," he said at the time.
Carter said he "didn't really touch it" again until he was "about 23" right after he competed on Season 9 of Dancing With the Stars in 2009. "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," he admitted. "I was huffing because I was really f***ing stupid and sad, but this is really no excuse. I was huffing because I'm a drug addict."
Carter sadly left behind his only child, Prince Lyric Carter, who was just shy of turning one year old upon his death.