More than a year after his August 2018 passing, the official cause of death of Rick “Zombie Boy” Genest, who starred in Lady Gaga‘s “Born This Way” music video, has been revealed. Genest’s death was officially ruled an accident by a Canadian coroner on Monday, despite initial speculation that he had died by suicide.
According to the coroner’s report, obtained by the Daily Mail, Coroner Mélissa Gagnon of the Bureau du Coroner ruled that Genest died of head trauma after falling from a third-story balcony in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal on August 1, 2018. His death, she said, was not intentional, though she could not fully rule out suicide.
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“It was an accidental death,” Gagnon wrote, adding that there was no “clear and unequivocal intention to end his life.”
According to the report, Genest had marijuana and a high blood alcohol level in his system at the time of his death, and while there had been concern for his mental health in the past, he was said to be doing well at the time.
“Some close friends reported that he heard voices, particularly when he used substances,” Gagnon said. “However, Mr. Genest did not seem to be in a state of psychosis or delirium when he went out on the balcony.”
Gagnon suggested that the fall was the result of his high blood alcohol level and his use of cannabis.
“Considering that habit and his very advanced state of inebriation, it is plausible that Mr. Genest accidentally fell from the balcony,” she wrote.