Michael K Williams died of accidental drug overdose, coroner confirms

vt-author-image

By VT

Article saved!Article saved!

Michael K Williams died after an accidental overdose on fentanyl, p-fluorofentanyl, heroin, and cocaine, the New York Chief Medical Examiner confirmed, per BBC News.

The Wire actor, 54, died in Brooklyn, New York, on September 6. He had been found unconscious and unresponsive by his nephew.

Williams was best known for portraying Omar Little in the hit HBO show The Wire between 2002 and 2008. He also played the role of Albert "Chalky" White in Boardwalk Empire from 2010 to 2014.

He had spoken candidly about his previous drug use, admitting in a 2012 interview with the New Jersey Star-Ledger that while starring in The Wire, he would do drugs "in scary places with scary people". However, he stated at the time that he had taken "nothing stronger" than cocaine and marijuana.

 wp-image-1263125576
Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

"I was playing with fire," he told the outlet. "It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead."

Williams' final Instagram post has now been viewed over 2.4 million times, and fans have been flooding to the comments section to share their devastation over the actor's passing.

In the video, comedian Tracy Morgan delivers a poignant speech after a car accident that nearly killed him back in 2014.

Morgan declares: "Don't cry for me. Okay, I had a misfortunate accident - don't cry for me! Cry for others, man.

"My grandmother told me when you think you're doing bad, there's always somebody out there worse. There's people out there in the world with nobody to love and nobody to love them. How about that?

"What is happiness? What is happiness? What is happiness? Whatever you think it is, you're wrong - it's simpler than that. It's way simpler than that. You know what true happiness is? Having something to look forward to."

Williams captioned the video, "I love u brother!!!" and tagged Morgan.

Some days after his uncle was confirmed dead, Williams' 43-year-old nephew Dominic DuPont recounted the tragedy, saying: "We made the appropriate calls to 911."

He went on: "I'm not going to speak about what the police are alleging. Police have often had different views about things. Last I checked, there was not an autopsy done. And that will happen."

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy