Aaron Carter’s twin sister, Angel Carter, opens up about how she came to terms with the tragic death of her sibling last fall.
“Losing a twin is an out-of-body experience,” the 35-year-old Tampa, Fla. native told People in an article published Thursday. “He’s part of me.”
She said that her first instinct after her twin sibling’s death was that he died of an accidental drug overdose after he
“When he died, I felt, ‘I have to bring him into my house. I have to get him home and protect him,” said Angel, who came into possession of his ashes earlier in the year.
Angel said she kept Aaron’s ashes at her home between the cremation and the July 28 memorial service where they were buried.
The latest: Aaron Carter’s twin sister, Angel Carter, 35, has spoken candidly about how she came to terms with the tragic death of her sibling last fall, saying, “Losing a twin is an out-of-body experience.” Pictured last January
“For a few months after his death, it was my last chance to protect him,” she told the outlet. “I don’t want anyone to do anything weird to him.” Now I bury him… in the Forest Lawn.
“I can’t trust that no one else will take advantage of him.” So that was my final act of love back then.”
Angel, who also lost her sister Leslie to a drug overdose in 2012 at age 25, said she didn’t want the loss of her siblings to be “in vain” and has put her time and effort into the nonprofit organization On Our Sleeves, which responds aims to promote mental health awareness among children.
She said she wanted to share her siblings’ respective journeys “as an example of what can happen as a result of drug addiction” since “it affects so many families.”
Angel said, “It’s grown into something bigger where you’re like, ‘Okay, we’ve got to get his story out there’ … we can’t let my brother and sister die in vain.”
Angel said Aaron’s downfall was compounded by the death of her father, Robert Carter, in May 2017 at the age of 65 from a heart attack. While in Aaron’s rehab after his father’s death, he was diagnosed with multiple personality disorder and schizophrenia.
“I always felt like that was the beginning of the end,” she told the outlet. “Aaron was already in a bad position, but it was like a domino effect.”
Angel has fallen out with her mother Jane, who in March, ahead of the release of the autopsy results, posted a series of grisly images of Aaron’s death scene and insisted he was the victim of a crime and not an overdose.
Emotional: Angel said her first instinct after her twin sibling’s death was that he died of an accidental drug overdose after being pictured together in LA in 2014
Explanation: Angel kept Aaron’s ashes at her home between the cremation and the memorial service on July 28, when they were buried
The Way They Were: Aaron Carter’s long battle with addiction is remembered by his heartbroken twin sister, Angel
Sad: In early November last year, Aaron’s housekeeper was found dead at home at the age of 34 from what coroners say was an accidental drug overdose
Throwback: She looked back at Aaron’s years of substance abuse problems that followed a childhood of emotional abuse, dysfunction and addiction. He is pictured in 2005 at the age of 17
She told People that she hasn’t spoken to Jane since the photos were published, a move she described as “a real invasion of privacy and something Aaron never wanted the public to see.”
Angel said that “Aaron’s death was the worst outcome for all of us,” adding, “My brother deserves to be here.”
She gave a devastating look at Aaron’s years of substance abuse problems that followed a childhood “riddled with emotional abuse, dysfunction and addiction.”
Aaron, who left behind son Prince with his fiancé Melanie Martin, battled substance abuse which led to multiple arrests and stints in rehab.
Angel said she always clung to the hope that he would recover and choked back tears as she remembered, “I was just waiting for him to freak out.” But he never did.
“He really wanted to be happy.” He really fought to the end, but he just had too many problems to solve. He had become this person that we no longer recognized. “I don’t even think he recognized himself,” Angel said.
Now she’s gotten to work with On Our Sleeves to break the “generational dysfunction”.
“It’s a lot easier to raise a strong kid than it is to heal a broken adult,” said Angel, who shares her four-year-old daughter Harper with her husband Corey Conrad.
“Something positive has to come out of all this.” I refuse to let Aaron die in vain. I want Aaron’s legacy to extend beyond the last few years of his life.”
Aaron’s autopsy results showed he had consumed alprazolam, a generic form of Xanax, and inhaled compressed difluoroethane, the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner reported, TMZ reported.
He inhaled compressed difluoroethane, a propellant used in compressed air cans, a practice commonly known as “puffing.”
According to officers, Aaron was “incapacitated in the bathtub due to the effects” of the substances.
The body was found at his home on November 5, 2022. Authorities said in the report that the entertainer “slid under the water” under the influence of the substances and drowned.
Tragedy: Aaron descended even deeper into his addiction after his sister Leslie died of a prescription drug overdose in 2012 at the age of just 25; The couple is pictured in 2000
Bereaved: Family tragedies befell Aaron, who also reportedly lost his father, Robert Carter, to a heart attack in 2017; The couple is pictured in 2001
Coroner’s officers ruled out drowning as his main cause of death in January, TMZ reported, because medical examiners found no water in his lungs.
Martin told the outlet that releasing the autopsy didn’t mean closure for her.
“It claims that death was by drowning, but it also adds that he was wearing a t-shirt and necklace in the bath, which doesn’t make sense. Why would he be clothed in a bathtub?” said Martin.
She continued, “I’m still in shock and I still miss Aaron every day.” “I don’t understand the sequence of events and this account only makes us ask more questions.”
Martin had previously told the outlet that it felt the singer had been harmed by his drug abuse.
She said she turned over his phone to authorities, which included a text message exchange in which Carter said he owed an unnamed person $800 for an unknown substance.
According to Melanie, during the alleged exchange, the singer told the interlocutor that he no longer wanted the substance.
The other party asked for the $800 in the text, Melanie said, after which Aaron asked if he was being threatened, which was the last communication in the exchange.
The late singer’s mother, Jane Carter, shared pictures of the bathtub and the house where he died to draw more attention to the investigation into his death.
Jane said she doesn’t believe her son’s death was due to a drug overdose but rather that it was a crime, sharing pictures of the home taken on the day of her son’s death.
Another image showed a towel and hoodie on the floor of the bathroom where Aaron was found, as well as a toilet in the bathroom.
Jane said that Aaron’s family and friends fully supported her in releasing the images from that painful day to draw law enforcement attention to the case.
She said there should have been “at least one investigation” into the untimely death “because of…”. [her] Son’s mental illness and problems with prescription drugs [the police] “I just wanted it to be something simple that they didn’t have the time or inclination for.”
Jane added, “We want justice.” We want answers. “There are people who need to be held accountable.”
Speaking to TMZ Live in March, Jane Carter said her late son had been harassed online by “numerous people” who she believes may be responsible for his death. She added that law enforcement did not see Aaron in person when they conducted a welfare check at his residence.
Jane Carter said that while her son was battling drug addiction, she didn’t suspect he was harming himself. “He was addicted, but I don’t think he wanted to die,” Jane said. “I don’t think he would have used that much of that aerosol.”