Cause of death of Adam Harrison, son of “Pawn Stars” creator Rick Harrison, announced

The cause of death of Adam Harrison, the son of “Pawn Stars” creator and star Rick Harrison, was announced a month after his death at a Las Vegas home.

The 39-year-old died of fentanyl and methamphetamine poisoning, a Clark County, Nevada, spokesman confirmed in an email to USA TODAY on Thursday. The cause of death was ruled an accident, the Clark County Medical Examiner/Coroner’s Office ruled.

A full autopsy report will be released at a later date.

According to a Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department police report obtained by USA TODAY on Jan. 26, Adam Harrison was pronounced dead in the guest house where he lived on the afternoon of Jan. 19. He was discovered after another resident expressed concern that he had not shown up since Jan. 17. The landlord found him unconscious and called police.

Laura Herlovich, a representative for the family, said in a statement to USA TODAY on Jan. 22 that Harrison reportedly died of a fentanyl overdose. In a statement to TMZ on Jan. 22, Rick Harrison said, “The fentanyl crisis in this country needs to be taken more seriously.”

In 2021, 107,000 people died of drug overdoses in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Opioids, particularly synthetic opioids such as fentanyl, are “the leading cause of drug overdose deaths. Nearly 88% of opioid overdose deaths were due to synthetic opioids,” according to the CDC. According to a recent report from Millennium Health Laboratory, illicit fentanyl is increasingly being used in conjunction with other substances such as methamphetamine.

How Rick and Corey Harrion paid tribute to Adam Harrison

On January 19, Harrison announced his son’s death by posting a photo of Adam and himself at a restaurant on his Instagram account. “You will always be in my heart! I love you Adam,” Harrison wrote, followed by a broken heart emoji.

Corey Harrison, Adam’s older brother, also shared a childhood photo of the two on his Instagram page. “I will always love you, Bubba,” he wrote in the post.

Rick Harrison has appeared with his family on the History Channel show since 2009. The show focuses on family relationships and the operations of a store called Gold & Silver Pawn on Las Vegas Boulevard. Adam Harrison did not appear in “Pawn Stars,” although he reportedly once worked at Gold & Silver Pawn, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Rick’s father, family patriarch Richard Harrison, referred to as “the old man” in the series, died in June 2018 at the age of 77.

Fifteen years of “Pawn Stars”: A look at Rick Harrison and his family

Contributor: Ahjané Forbes, USA TODAY

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Cause of death of Rick Harrison’s son Adam Harrison announced at age 39