A coroner has ruled this week that Sean Levert died of natural causes. The 39 year old R&B singer, as previously reported, died in hospital on 30 Mar just an hour after being transferred from Cuyahoga County jail, where he was one week into serving a 22 month sentence for failure to make child support payments. The coroner, Frank Miller, said that Levert died from complications of inflammatory lung disease sarcoidosis, but that he was also suffering from other conditions - heart disease, high blood sugar, and Xanax withdrawal symptoms.
His family, by all accounts, aren't best pleased with the ruling, as they feel that his death could probably have been prevented. Lawyers for Levert's widow Angela Lowe say that according to sheriff's department records, he wasn't seen by a doctor, or given his anti-anxiety medicine, the aforementioned Xanax, during the period he was in prison, and it's claimed that these factors could have contributed to his demise. According to wardens at the prison, on the night he died Levert had been sick, and guards were watching him because he had been acting strangely. When he began pounding on his cell door, he was restrained. He was removed to hospital when his breathing became shallow.
Attorney Daryl Dennie said: "He was exhibiting classic signs of Xanax withdrawal. A doctor would have been able to recognize these problems. Had he been able to see one in that week's time things could have been different". He then explained that Levert had taken a bottle of Xanax with him to prison, but he was never given access to it. Lowe's lawyer David Malik added: "They inventoried it and they never gave it to him. He requested it during the time he was in jail".
Levert was, of course, the son of O'Jays singer Eddie Levert, and a member of 80s R&B trio LeVert alongside brother Gerald, who, as previously reported, died in 2006 at the age of forty when he took an accidentally lethal mixture of prescription and over-the counter drugs. It's not clear whether widow Lowe intends to pursue further legal action. She released a statement yesterday which read: "Sean was loved by many and both his family and fans are saddened beyond comprehension. Sean Levert did not die as a result of illegal drug usage".