Police are broadening their investigation into the death of emo-rapper Lil Peep — who was found dead on his tour bus two weeks ago — after “new evidence” surfaced.
Though it was initially believed that the internet superstar — real name Gustav Åhr — died of a drug overdose on November 15th (he was never shy about his penchant for self-medication), Arizona police now say they’re treating his death as “suspicious” after discovering “troubling” private messages allegedly sent to him by a fan on the night he died.
A series of private messages from 20-year-old Mariah Bons have been circulating on social media, in which she allegedly boasts to friends about getting Lil Peep “high af” during a visit to his tour bus just hours before he passed away.
“GBC [Lil Peep] high af because of me and my friend lol,” one of her DM tweets allegedly reads. “He passed the f*ck out my brother called and I tried to get him to say hi to my brother but he wouldn’t wake up.”
Outraged fans circulating the messages online have accused Bons of supplying Lil Peep with Xanax laced with the powerful opioid Fentanyl without the star’s knowledge (TMZ previously reported that police were investigating the possibility that fentanyl contributed to Peep’s death) and have started an online petition calling for her arrest, which has so far garnered almost 30,000 signatures.
Police are reportedly investigating the messages, as they await the results of a toxicology report.
“[Lil Peep’s cause of death] appeared to have been an overdose from evidence found near his body – most likely from Xanax or a combination of different drugs,” Sergeant Pete Dugan of the Tucson Police Department tells Rolling Stone.
“But we’re not medical examiners. We have to wait for a toxicology report. Until we get that, we don’t know the cause of death.”
Dugan adds that detectives are currently “looking into the allegations that somebody was linked to his death”, but says the outcome “will really boil down to what was in his system”.
A memorial service will be held for Lil Peep at the Allegria Hotel in the New York suburb of Long Beach later today.
