Chris Cornell Cause of Death Questioned; Widow Vicky Cornell, Family Still 'Mystified' over Announcement of Death Cause
The wife of Soundgarden and Audioslave frontman Chris Cornell remains mystified with the autopsy report on her husband's death. Vicky Cornell still has several unanswered questions as the coroner from Detroit's Wayne County Medical Examiner's Office ruled the singer's death as suicide by hanging.
The Cornell family released a statement through their lawyer Kirk Pasich that they requested for police and toxicology reports following the autopsy. Pasich told the press the City of Detroit Law Department denied their request because the singer's death was still under investigation.
Vicky then wondered why the coroner revealed the cause of death to the public when the investigation has not been completed. The Cornell family believes Chris might have taken more than the recommended dose for Ativan, an anxiolytic, which the singer used to manage his anxieties.
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In a statement, Vicky said she believes Chris had no intention of hurting his family by taking his life. She believes the extra dose of Ativan might have clouded his thinking, hence the toxicology report is key evidence to her husband's death.
"Without the results of toxicology tests, we do not know what was going on with Chris — or if any substances contributed to his demise," Pasich said, as per Rolling Stone. Meanwhile, the Detroit police has not given a date as to when the toxicology report will be released.
Chris's bodyguard found the singer unresponsive in his MGM hotel room past midnight on May 17 following a show. Reports stated Chris had a red exercise band around his neck. Paramedics rushed to his room to revive the singer but he was pronounced dead around 1:30 a.m. He was 52 years old.
The musician, who was best known for helping popularize grunge in the 1990s, struggled with substance abuse for years and admitted to undergoing rehabilitation before he finally sobered up in 2002. Chris and Vicky had been married since 2004 and they have two children, Toni and Christopher Nicholas.
