[[IF YOU'RE HERE TO TRASH TALK CASEY, THEN JUST LEAVE. WHY WATCH A VIDEO DEDICATED TO HIM IF YOU DON'T EVEN LIKE HIM?]]
Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert, 26, was pronounced dead on Saturday after police were called to the band's tour bus outside Washington, D.C.'s 9:30 Club around 2:30 p.m. and found him unconscious. The Washington Post reported that Calvert's death came one day after he and his bandmates — frontman JT Woodruff, guitarist Micah Carli, bassist Matt Ridenour and drummer Eron Bucciarelli — boarded the bus to begin their Wintour 2007 outing, which kicked off Friday night in Detroit. Police are still awaiting results of an autopsy, though some reports speculate that his death might have been caused by a pre-existing condition related to acute asthma.
News of Calvert's untimely death is being greeted with shock and sadness by his fans and his fellow musicians, who remembered him as a kind and caring soul who loved to laugh and loved being in a band with his best friends.
An autopsy report released today has confirmed that Hawthorne Heights guitarist Casey Calvert died as a result of "acute combined effects of opiate, citalopram and clonazepam intoxication."
Calvert had battled depression for some time, and had been prescribed a variety of medical treatments. It appears that these medications, taken in tandem with an unnamed opiate, led to an accidental case of suffocation due to the involuntary closure of his airways. It has been suggested by the band that the opiate in question was the painkiller Vicodin, which the band members speculated in a statement had been prescribed to him following a dental procedure.
Reads the statement: "From the time of the incident, we suspected a possible drug interaction as the cause. Casey wrestled with depression for as long as we knew him. He saw numerous doctors and took an ever-changing array of medicines to get better. He finally had his depression under control."
The band members were also careful to point that there was no indication that Calvert had been abusing drugs intentionally. "According to the toxicology report, the cause of death was due to a fatal interaction between depression meds, anxiety meds and an opiate ... Opiates being mentioned along with the term 'substance abuse,' coupled with 'rock star' stereotypes immediately conjure up images of hard drug use and addiction, which simply couldn't be further from the truth in Casey's instance."
"What the toxicology report doesn't show is that prior to us leaving for tour, Casey had a root canal and was prescribed Vicodin for the pain. Once again, Casey was not involved in anything illegal, nor was he a substance abuser."
Rest In Peace Casey Calvert.
Songs:
Stop Crying Your Heart Out - Oasis.
Wake Up Call - Hawthorne Heights.