Dr. Dre’s Son Found Dead

UPDATE: The cause of death has been determined to be a heroin overdose.

The son of rap legend Dr. Dre was found dead over the weekend in his Woodland Hills home according to coroner’s officials in Los Angeles.

From the Los Angeles Times:

Andre R. Young Jr. had been out with friends the night before and was discovered in his bed by his mother at 10:24 a.m. Saturday, Los Angeles County coroner’s spokesman Ed Winter said.

Andre Young Sr., professionally known as Dr. Dre, released a statement to the media through a representative.

“Dr. Dre is mourning the loss of his son Andre Young Jr. Please respect his family’s grief and privacy at this time,” his publicist, Lori Earl, said in the statement.

Young Jr. was the subject of a paternity dispute in 1990 when his mother, Jenita Porter, filed a lawsuit against Dr. Dre in Orange County Superior Court, seeking $5,000-a-month child support.

She said in the suit that although Young promised to support their then 2-year-old son before his birth, she had received only a small amount of cash, a few gifts and diapers during their four-year relationship.

An autopsy was performed Monday, but the cause of death wasn’t likely to be determined for eight weeks while toxicology tests are done.

Over the past two decades, Dr. Dre has become one of the biggest hitmakers in the hip hop industry. The founder and chief executive of Aftermath Entertainment helped change the face of music by innovating the sound of gangsta rap with his incendiary group N.W.A. in the 1980s. My heart goes out to Dr. Dre and his family.