Former NFL wide receiver Charles Johnson reportedly died from suicide, a medical examiner’s report indicated.
According to a medical report USA Today shared, Johnson died after seemingly overdosing on drugs. He passed away on July 17 at just 50 years old and was discovered at a local Hampton Inn about 6.5 miles from his residence in Raleigh, North Carolina. His wife reported him missing the day before his body was found.
The wide receiver reportedly had no known medical issues and wasn’t taking any medication. The medical report stated that he was found to have “acute oxycodone, hydrocodone and mirtazapine toxicity” after he died.
“In the previous week, he had been acting strange and had recently purchased a funeral and cremation service,” findings obtained by USA Today indicated regarding his suicide.
Raleigh officials said Johnson paid for the hotel room on July 15, then returned home and left his residence without some of the essential items. The report said he left his wallet, keys, phone and car back home. After receiving a welfare check call when Johnson hadn’t checked out—he scheduled to—police headed to the Hampton Inn. There, the medical examiner’s report said, officers found the ex-NFL player unresponsive in the room while lying on his bed.
Johnson was pronounced dead at the scene.
“A query of the North Carolina Prescription Monitoring Service showed no active prescriptions. An old (2018) short-term hydrocodone prescription was documented,” the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh said.
It also indicated that the only personal items in the hotel room he was found in included a bottle of body lotion and other small things.
“The only personal items in the hotel room appeared to be two empty bottles of water, an empty travel (sized) bottle of body lotion, an empty travel container, a pair of sandals and a pair of eyeglasses,” was written in the report from the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner in Raleigh.
The former football player played collegiate football at the University of Colorado Boulder. The Pittsburgh Steelers selected him in the first round of the NFL draft in 1984. During his NFL career, he also played for the Buffalo Bills, the Philadelphia Eagles and the New England Patriots.
