Jamal Edwards died of a cardiac arrest after taking cocaine, a coroner has ruled.
The DJ and founder of SBTV passed away on in Acton, west London on February 20. He was 31 years old.
Back in June, his mother Brenda Edwards said that her son’s death was the result of him taking recreational drugs. “I wanted to address this myself to everyone who loved, admired and respected my son,” she wrote on social media.
A coroner has now confirmed that there was evidence of cocaine toxicity in Jamal’s body, adding that the cause of death was cardiac arrhythmia following cocaine use.
A toxicology report found a presence of cocaine and alcohol, which is likely to have resulted in his death (via BBC News).
As ITV News reports, the record of inquest said: “After drinking some alcohol with a friend, [Jamal’s] behaviour changed and became erratic and he appeared paranoid, before he collapsed and became unconscious.
“Attempts at resuscitation failed and life was declared extinct at 10.36am […]”
It added: “Sampling established recent cocaine use, causing cocaine toxicity and resulting cardiac arrhythmia.”
In the statement she shared earlier this summer, Brenda Edwards warned that “these types of substances are unpredictable”, and said it takes just “one bad reaction to destroy lives”.
The Loose Women panelist wrote: “It’s so important that we drive more conversation about the unpredictability of recreational drugs.
“Jamal is proof that this can happen to anyone. His passing has shown that one bad decision on any one occasion can lead to devastating consequences.”
Jamal, who was also an author and broadcaster, helped launch the careers of Ed Sheeran, Stormzy, Skepta and Dave through his youth broadcasting and production channel SBTV.
He founded the platform as a teenager to share clips that he’d recorded of his friends performing on the estate where he lived in Acton.
Th late entrepreneur is to be honoured with this year’s Music Industry Trusts Award (MITS) in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the music industry later this year.
The singer-songwriter explained that Jamal had planned out the whole video for ‘Are You Entertained’ – Sheeran’s collaboration with Russ – but died just before they’d been scheduled to begin shooting.
Paying tribute in the wake of Jamal’s death, Sheeran described him as his “brother” who would “continue to light up every dark moment”.
He added: “There will never be anything close to what he is, but I’m so grateful to have existed within his orbit.”