Reality TV Star Jasmine Burkitt's Cause of Death Released

By Daniel S. Levine

The provisional cause of death for U.K. reality star Jasmine "Jazz" Burkitt was shared in court last week. Burkitt's cause of death was listed as "cardiac failure," a coroner said during a hearing in Ruthin, Wales on Oct. 4, reports The Daily Post. The Small Teen Bigger World star was found dead on June 12. She was 28.

John Gittins, a senior coroner for North Wales east and center said Burkitt experienced a "decline in her mental health" before her death. There were several unsuccessful attempts to revive her after the mother of her partner, Lewis Burke, found her unconscious. The post-mortem toxicology test found there was quetiapine, a drug used to treat depression, bipolar disorder, and other conditions, in Burkitt's system. Gittins said the provisional cause of death was a cardiac failure and a full inquest will be held in 2023 as an investigation into her death continues.

Burke announced Burkitt's death on Facebook, noting that she passed away after a "life-long battle with a very serious mental illness." He called her the "most incredible human that ever walked this planet," adding that he was "truly devastated" by her death. "She changed my life forever and I'll never be the same," Burke wrote on June 27.

Burkitt starred in a season of BBC Three's Small Teen Bigger World back in 2010. The documentary series tracked her life over 12 months, including her journey to New York City to find her birth father. She often appeared alongside her mother Bev, who also had a form of dwarfism. Her mother died in 2014. She also wrote an autobiography and used social media to share her and Burke's life with their followers. Burke and Burkitt got engaged in February 2021.

In October 2021, The Daily Post reported that Burke, Burkitt, and their dog Loki were living in a tent in Bodelwyddan, on land owned by Burkitt's family. They said they loved their living arrangement, which came after they failed to get a council home together.

Burke was frustrated to see how their life in their tent was depicted in the media. In an Oct. 4 Facebook post, he said they had full access to amenities like electricity, an oven, a fireplace, a television, and an Xbox. "We didn't live in squalor, far from it and our home was secure and safe. I just hate this notion that Jazz died in some tent in some woodland in Wales, the papers are so wrong for saying that," Burke wrote. "We were living our best lives, or at least we tried very hard to."

Trending Now: