There are no signs of trauma or foul play in the death of Kris Kross rapper Chris Kelly, lending credence to reports that the 34-year-old died after he had taken a mixture of heroin and cocaine.
The Fulton County Medical Examiner completed an autopsy Thursday (May 2), but Kelly's official cause of death won't be determined until at least three weeks after the toxicology report is complete, a county rep told.
On Wednesday morning, hours before he died, Kelly took a phone call from Streetz 94.5 producer Akini. The Atlanta radio station released the audio online, and during the minute-long conversation, Kelly appears to be a bit out of sorts. "When you listen to the phone conversation, you can tell there is a lot going on in the background," Akini wrote on the station's website.
Police officers arrived at Kelly's home at 5:45 p.m. Wednesday in response to a report of a death. When paramedics arrived on the scene, they found Kelly lying unresponsive on his couch with "no life signs." He was transferred to Atlanta Medical Center South, where he was pronounced dead. According to the report obtained by MTV News, Kelly's mother, Donna Kelly Pratte, told officers that the rapper — who went by the name Mac Daddy — had taken a mixture of cocaine and heroin the night before, a concoction commonly known as speedballs.
In the report, Pratte is identified as "a close friend" of Kelly and said that she had brought him home to recover from his drug use and that he "had done this several times in the past."
A Look Back At Chris Kelly's Influential Style.
Pratte issued a statement on her son's death, writing, "It is with deep sadness that we announce that our beloved Chris Kelly has passed away on May 1. To millions of fans worldwide, he was the trendsetting, backwards pants-wearing one-half of Kris Kross who loved making music. But to us, he was just Chris — the kind, generous and fun-loving life of the party. Though he was only with us a short time, we feel blessed to have been able to share some incredible moments with him. His legacy will live on through his music, and we will forever love him."