Brad Renfro autopsied; addiction expert weighs in

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The investigation into the shocking and untimely death of 25-year-old actor Brad Renfro continues, as the coroner’s office completed his autopsy yesterday. Brad wasn’t super famous, and not a lot is known about his personality in the last few years. But it appears something was going on with him lately. TMZ reports that two days before the actor died, he got a tattoo across his back that read “F*%k Y’all.” That leads one to wonder if his (presumed) overdose was accidental or intentional. The coroner’s office is conducting interviews with Renfro’s friends, though not much has been said about his family.

An autopsy on the former child star was performed Thursday, the Los Angeles County Department of Coroner confirmed. The official cause of death will not be released until toxicology tests come back in about six weeks. Renfro’s body was found by his girlfriend in his Los Angeles home Tuesday morning. Paramedics pronounced him dead upon their arrival.

In addition to performing the autopsy, coroner’s officials have been conducting interviews with people who knew Renfro. Friends of the 25-year-old actor, whose struggles with drug addiction were well publicized, said he was drinking the night before his body was discovered, but it is not yet known whether that contributed to his death.

[From E! News]

Several of Renfro’s former co-stars have made statements regarding his death, and everyone says he was an incredibly nice guy who had a hard battle with addiction. Susan Sarandon, who worked with Renfro on the movie that was his big break – The Client – expressed her condolences.

“It was obvious to everyone that he was the sweetest, most incredibly gifted young actor to come along for some time,” Sarandon said Wednesday in remembrance of her onetime costar. “My heart goes out to the family for their tragic loss.”

[From E! News]

Johnny Knoxville, who costarred with Renfro in 2002 in the movie “Deuces Wild” also talked about what a nice guy Brad was.

“I really liked Brad,” Knoxville said. “[He was] extremely charming and [had] a good heart. Yeah, he got into a little trouble, but he was a sweet, sweet kid. I don’t like to be talking about him in the past tense,” he added. “He was a hometown boy who did real good, and it breaks my heart he is gone. He was so young and so sweet. It makes me very sad.”

[From US Weekly]

Dr. Drew Pinsky, who is a medical doctor and a board-licensed addiction medicine specialist and the host of “Celebrity Rehab,” thinks that the fact that Brad was known to have been drinking the night before he died means he likely was using drugs as well.

The fact that he was drinking could an indication that Renfro, who has battled heroin addiction for several years, took illicit drugs before his death, addiction expert and Celebrity Rehab host Dr. Drew Pinsky tells PEOPLE.

“Just the fact that he was a known addict who was drinking, that’s all you need to know,” Pinsky says. “Renfro was taught in rehab to stay away from booze, and if he was drinking the night before, odds are the coroner will find other substances in his body.”

[From US Weekly]

It seems pretty likely that Brad Renfro died from either drugs or the combination of drugs and alcohol, especially given his history. I think the greater mystery will be whether it was intentional or accidental, and that will obviously take some time for an investigation to figure out. It’s a sad lesson that some other celebrities with addiction issues should pay attention to – just because you’re young and famous doesn’t mean you’re invincible.

Picture note by Jaybird: Brad Renfro and his date at “The Jacket” Los Angeles Premiere in February 2005. Images thanks to PR Photos.

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