The cause of death for Bobbie Jean Carter, the sister of Backstreet Boys member Nick Carter and late singer Aaron Carter, has been revealed in a report from the Hillsborough County Medical Examiner’s office that was obtained Tuesday by multiple media outlets.
The document confirmed Bobbie Jean Carter died accidentally from “intoxication by the combined effects of fentanyl and methamphetamine.” The 41-year-old Tampa local was reportedly found unresponsive on the bathroom floor by her roommate on Dec. 23.
Bobbie Jean Carter, whose roommate had seen her alive half an hour earlier, was rushed to St. Joseph’s Hospital in cardiac arrest. She was pronounced dead at 8:02 a.m., just over a year after her younger brother died at 34 of an accidental drug overdose in his bathroom.
The report listed a number of prescription medications she had been taking, including propranolol, for anxiety; omeprazole, for indigestion, heartburn and acid reflux; the antibiotic clindamycin; and an antipsychotic for her reported schizophrenia diagnosis.
The Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office told People in December 2023 that they learned Bobbie Jean Carter was on probation for cocaine possession when she died. Authorities watched her 8-year-old daughter, Bella, until Jane Carter, Bobbie Jean Carter’s mother, arrived from Orlando.
“I am in shock from learning of the sudden death of my daughter, Bobbie Jean; and I will need time to process the terrible reality of this happening for the third time,” Jane Carter told TMZ at the time. “When I am able to think clearly, I’ll release a fuller statement.”
The Carters have endured several hardships in the past two decades, including familial deaths, substance abuse struggles and criminal charges. Bobbie Jean Carter was arrested for fentanyl possession in June 2023; her mother was charged with domestic battery weeks prior.
Leslie Carter, who was four years younger than Bobbie Jean Carter and made her music debut through DreamWorks Records in 2001, died of an accidental drug overdose in 2012. Aaron Carter had multiple stints in rehab before his death in 2022.
“It may take a lifetime to fully process the loss my family has endured over the years — most recently, with the sudden passing of our sister Bobbie Jean,” wrote Nick Carter on Instagram in January. “I am completely heartbroken.”
Fentanyl overdoses in the U.S. have been steadily rising for a decade. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the number of drug overdose deaths in 2021 was more than six times higher than in 1999 — and reached 107,000.
Bobbie Jean will reportedly be laid to rest in Florida.
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