Photo: Etika/ Instagram
Police found his body in the East River near New York City’s South Street Seaport, the medical examiner’s report confirms.
News of Amofah’s cause of death comes one week after he posted a since-deleted video expressing suicidal thoughts. Fans worried after seeing the video on June 19, and then the blogger was reported missing the next day.
The NYPD then confirmed on Tuesday that Etika had died.
Amofah’s public mental health struggles started in October 2018, when he deleted all of the videos from his YouTube channel and posted a suicidal message on Reddit. Etika’s officialYouTubechannel was banned for posting pornographic content and violating other YouTube guidelines, and his personal Facebook and Twitter also went inactive. At the time, his ex-girlfriend Christine Allice revealed that Amofah checked into a mental hospital.
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Then, in mid-April, Amofah washospitalized after threating to kill himself, reportedNewsweek.
On May 1, Amofah wastaken to a mental facilityagain after an altercation with a police officer. The videogame vlogger claimed two weeks later that the officer punched him after Amofah gave him the middle finger.
TheYouTube communityis grappling with Amofah’s passing.
“We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community. All of us at YouTube are sending condolences to his loved ones and fans,” the YouTube Creators accounttweetedon Tuesday.
YouTube starPewDiePie, born Felix Kjellberg, also shared his sentiments. “Hard to grasp that he’s actually gone, left us way too soon,” he tweeted. “You will continue to live on in our hearts. Rest in peace@Etika.”
Added fellow YouTuber Lux, “‘RIP Etika. We didn’t know each other but I just wanted to say rest in peace. It gets said a lot on social media but I’m gonna say it again. Reach out to someone, anyone, to talk through things. There are always people that care about you.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
source: people.com
