REPORT: Juice Wrld Had Encounter With Police Shortly Before Death
The hip hop community was shaking this weekend when 21-year-old rapper Juice Wrld suddenly passed away on Sunday.
The Chicago-born rapper, whose real name is Jarad Higgin, was already one of the rising younger artists who were gaining attention on streaming platforms and breaking out in charts.
Before his death, however, Juice Wrld was in high spirits in videos from the plane he was riding. It was reported that he was even expected to attend his own 21st birthday party the night he arrived in Chicago.
Police Encounter
According to a report by the Chicago Tribune, police and agents were waiting for his private plane from Los Angeles because they suspected there were drugs on board.
As they were searching the luggage, police told the paper that Juice "began convulsing and going into a seizure."
He reportedly woke up but was "incoherent" after one officer administered two doses of Narcan, an anti-overdose. They called an ambulance, but Higgins was pronounced dead at 3:14 AM at the Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, Illinois.
Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi told CNN that there were no signs of foul play, and people on board were cooperating with the Chicago Police Department and have all given their information.
On Monday, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office released its initial findings of an autopsy that said: "additional studies are required to establish the cause and manner of death."
These additional studies include cardiac pathology, toxicology, histology, and neuropathology.
Juice's girlfriend was also on the plane with him when it happened, and police asked her if her man had any medical conditions, to which she replied that he takes Percocet and "has a drug problem," though it remains unconfirmed if drugs played a role in his death.
Contrabands in Plane?
Numerous reports surfaced that the plane search that took place uncovered 41 bags of marijuana and six bottles of prescription codeine cough syrup. Aside from the drugs, guns were also found inside the plane, including two 9 mm pistols, a .40-caliber handgun, a high-capacity ammunition magazine, and metal-piercing bullets.
Unrelated to his death, two men who worked for the rapper were arrested and charged with unlawful possession of a firearm and carrying a concealed firearm -- though they were released on Sunday. They are due in court on December 30.
Juice WRLD was open about his drug use. He had song lyrics that included the names of different drugs. In an interview with Hot 107.9, he said it was Future who inspired him to try to lean for the first time.
After Juice Wrld's death, his record label Interscope Geffen A&M Records released a statement and acknowledged how the late rapper had impacted the world in such a short period.
"[Juice] was a gentle soul, whose creativity knew no bounds, an exceptional human being, and artist who loved and cared for his fans above everything else."
The label added that losing someone so close and kind was devastating.
Celebrities including Ellie Goulding, Lil Nas X and Drake paid tribute to the rapper online.
