It’s always sad when celebrities pass away, but especially at a young age. E! News is reporting that country star Mindy McCready has died at the age of 37. Cause of death is reportedly a suicide.
Such a tough time she’s had lately. Her boyfriend, 34-year-old David Wilson, died just over a month ago. His cause of death is still unknown and was under investigation.
McCready has spent time in rehab during the past few weeks to cope with the loss, denying accusations that she was somehow involved in his death.
A source told E! News that her body was found in her home in Heber Springs, Ark. Mindy’s father, Tim McCready, had been staying with her until this morning when he returned to Florida. She appeared in good spirits when he left, a source said.
When neighbors heard gunshots, they called the police. A source reports that she shot both herself and her dog.
I feel really bad for her kids, Zander, 6, and Zayne, 9 months, who’d recently been taken from the singer’s home by authorities and will now grow up without their mom.
“Mindy needs to get help and we all care and love her and we want her to get the right help so she can move on. She is in a bad state right now, depressed and unhappy. It is not good,” a source told E! News when the children were removed.
At that point, McCready was ordered to enter an in-patient facility for treatment. “Since boyfriend (David Wilson) shot himself she has been in bed for 3 wks,” her father noted in court documents. “Sleeps all day. Drinks all night and is taking Rx drugs. Not bathing or even helping take care of her 2 children.”
The judge agreed to McCready’s “involuntary admission” to an appropriate facility, noting that “there is cause to find there is clear and convincing evidence that Respondent is in imminent danger of harm to herself or others, suicidal or gravely disabled.”
But just one day after being ordered by a judge to enter a treatment facility for a mental-health and alcohol-abuse evaluation, McCready was released to undergo outpatient treatment instead.
She’s had a troubling life during the past few years. In November 2011, she violated a court order when she didn’t bring then 5-year-old son Zander back home to Florida after a visit. The singer was allowed to visit her son, whose father is McCready’s ex Billy McKnight, but her mother had custody of the child.
McCready claimed she was simply protecting her child. Zander was subsequently placed in foster care in the state while the custody dispute was dealt with. McCready was given full custody of Zander in late 2012.
In her last interview before she died, the singer told NBC’s Andrea Canning that she’d never gone through anything so painful as Wilson’s death. “He didn’t just touch my heart, he touched my soul. He was my soulmate.”
