The conclusions of an autopsy of rapper Heavy D have been deferred pending the results of toxicology tests, the L.A. County coroner’s office said on Monday.
According to the Los Angeles Times, officials said the autopsy was inconclusive and that it could take several weeks to determine a cause of death.
Ed Winter, a coroner’s spokesman, said last week no illegal drugs were found at Heavy D’s Beverly Hills home, but a doctor had prescribed him a drug after the rapper, 44, experienced a cough.
The coroner plans toxicology tests, which are common in cases when a relatively young, healthy person dies unexpectedly.
“We need to see what’s in his system,” Winter said.
Winter said the rapper had recently gone to London.
Heavy D was stricken on Nov. 8 while returning to his Beverly Hills condominium after a shopping trip and died a short time later at a hospital, authorities said. Heavy D experienced breathing problems at his condo complex on Maple Drive and then collapsed. “Upon arrival, officers discovered a male, 44 years old, conscious, communicative, but having difficulty breathing,” the Beverly Hills Police Department said in a statement.
Fans will have a chance to pay their respects at a public viewing in his hometown of Mount Vernon on Thursday, Nov. 17.
A private funeral is planned on Nov. 18 at Grace Baptist Church in Mount Vernon, New York. Diddy and the Rev. Al Sharpton are expected to speak at the event and BET is planning a tribute to the Overweight Lover at Sunday’s Soul Train Awards that will feature Big Daddy Kane, Doug E. Fresh, Curtis Blow, Naughty By Nature, Whodini and Stetsasonic’s Daddy-O.
