YouTuber Desmond 'Etika' Amofah's Cause of Death Ruled a Suicide

The New York City Police Department confirmed the gaming vlogger's death on Tuesday

Photo: Etika/ Instagram

One day after confirming that YouTube star Desmond Amofah, known as Etika, died, authorities revealed on Wednesday that the 29-year-old’s death was ruled a suicide by drowning.

Police found his body in the East River near New York City’s South Street Seaport, the medical examiner’s report confirms.

News of Amofah’s cause of death comes one week after he posted a since-deleted video expressing suicidal thoughts. Fans worried after seeing the video on June 19, and then the blogger was reported missing the next day.

“He was last heard from June 19 at about 8PM by phone,” the NYPD tweeted on Thursday.

The NYPD then confirmed on Tuesday that Etika had died.

Amofah’s public mental health struggles started in October 2018, when he deleted all of the videos from his YouTube channel and posted a suicidal message on Reddit. Etika’s official YouTube channel was banned for posting pornographic content and violating other YouTube guidelines, and his personal Facebook and Twitter also went inactive. At the time, his ex-girlfriend Christine Allice revealed that Amofah checked into a mental hospital.

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Then, in mid-April, Amofah was hospitalized after threating to kill himself, reported Newsweek.

Two weeks later, he was arrested again in Brooklyn after live-streaming an alleged threat to kill himself in his apartment. He also tweeted about nuclear weapons and posted a Photoshopped image of him pointing a gun at the camera. Emergency services took the Twitch streamer to a nearby hospital for psychiatric evaluation, according to the Brooklyn Paper.

On May 1, Amofah was taken to a mental facility again after an altercation with a police officer. The videogame vlogger claimed two weeks later that the officer punched him after Amofah gave him the middle finger.

The YouTube community is grappling with Amofah’s passing.

“We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community. All of us at YouTube are sending condolences to his loved ones and fans,” the YouTube Creators account tweeted on Tuesday.

YouTube star PewDiePie, born Felix Kjellberg, also shared his sentiments. “Hard to grasp that he’s actually gone, left us way too soon,” he tweeted. “You will continue to live on in our hearts. Rest in peace @Etika.”

Added fellow YouTuber Lux, “‘RIP Etika. We didn’t know each other but I just wanted to say rest in peace. It gets said a lot on social media but I’m gonna say it again. Reach out to someone, anyone, to talk through things. There are always people that care about you.”

If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “home” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.