Cause of death determined for Lucy-Bleu Knight, daughter of Slash's girlfriend
The death of Lucy-Bleu Knight has been ruled a suicide, according to the Los Angeles County medical examiner.
In a Thursday statement, the medical examiner's office said that the 25-year-old — the daughter of Slash's girlfriend, Meegan Hodges — died last month from hydrogen sulfide toxicity. The manner of death was suicide.
Hydrogen sulfide is a colorless, flammable, highly toxic gas with the odor of rotten eggs. The CDC's Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry says exposure to it can result in extremely rapid unconsciousness and death.
Knight was found unresponsive in a private residence on July 19 by law enforcement, who were conducting a welfare check, the medical examiner's office said. She was pronounced dead at 3 p.m. that day. A deputy medical examiner examined her body July 22 — the day after her family announced her death on social media — and her cause of death was certified by the coroner Thursday. A full report is expected to be ready by Sept. 10, the office said.
Read more: Slash announces death of Lucy-Bleu Knight, daughter of girlfriend Meegan Hodges
Guns N’ Roses rocker Slash, whose real name is Saul Hudson, and Hodges posted identical statements on July 21 announcing Knight's death on social media. In it, they requested a limit to speculation about her death.
Hours after the family posted the statement, a cryptic post went up on Knight's Instagram account that fueled speculation about its timing and the nature of her death in the missive’s comment section.
“Whether I made you feel excluded, manipulated/ controlled you, told you to quit your day job from the comfort of being financially supported by my parents, or drowned real issues in toxic positivity - I am sorry,” the post said. “Countless missed opportunities and connections due to a disgustingly big ego, insecure heart and fear of being vulnerable. May my soul learn to evolve from my poor job at being Lucy-Bleu. Peace.”
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Slash, 59, shares sons London and Cash, who are also musicians, with ex-wife Perla Ferrar. The heavy-metal rocker and Hodges dated in the late 1980s and reportedly rekindled their romance after he filed for divorce from Ferrar in 2014. (He and Ferrar finalized their split in 2018.)
London Hudson — a member of the band Return to Dust — recently dedicated the group's tour with Chevelle to Knight, whom he memorialized on his Instagam grid.
Last Saturday, Hodges posted a tribute to her daughter and thanked her followers for the outpouring of love and condolences.
"You have touched all of our hearts as Lucy-Bleu has touched yours. She will forever be missed but never forgotten," she wrote on Instagram. "It's impossible to forget Lucy-Bleu with all the light and energy she had on this planet. I love you my baby girl."
Read more: What not to ask the loved ones of those who have died by suicide
On Friday, she said that Thursday was one of the worst days in her grieving and healing journey.
"I woke up thinking everything of hers is disappearing," she wrote on Instagram stories. "Her smell, her art, things I can't find of hers that mean so much to me. Her physical being is gone. This pain is is [sic] awful. It's the worse [sic] feeling one could feel. I know I have to get through this pain till it's a little less in the day or doesn't last as long. Some days are just the absolute worse [sic]. For all of you that reach out to me and ask if I want to go for a walk or talk or distract me... Keep asking. I'll be down for something hopefully soon. Today I pray it's a better day then [sic] yesterday."
A representative for Slash did not immediately respond Friday to The Times' request for comment.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
