An autopsy report details Naomi Judd’s tragic death, confirming she died by suicide and left a note.
The singer died on April 30, 2022, at age 76, a day before she was scheduled to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her daughter Wynonna Judd.
Numerous tributes poured in for the late country crooner including her two daughters who bravely took the stage at the Country Music Hall of Fame at the CMA Theater in Nashville, Tennessee.
Her daughter Ashley Judd spoke to Good Morning America shortly after her mother’s death and revealed that Naomi used a firearm.
“Her brain hurt, it physically hurt and I’m tasked with an exceedingly difficult task in disclosing the manner of the way my mother chose not to continue to live,” Ashley said in the interview.
Ashley Judd revealed that she suffered trauma from discovering her mother after she shot herself.
A note with suicidal connotations found near Naomi Judd’s body
Naomi Judd’s official manner of death has been classified as suicide.
An autopsy report from the Nashville medical examiner’s office obtained by Page Six echoes her daughter Ashley Judd’s previous comments about her mother’s death.
The late singer was found unresponsive in her home at 10:57 a.m. on April 30 after she shot herself.
She was “transported to Williamson Medical Center where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival,” the report states.
According to the autopsy report, the gunshot went through the right side of her temple, adding that “a weapon and a note with suicidal connotations were found near the decedent at the scene.”
The medical examiner also detailed the late singer’s mental health, which was provided by her family.
Naomi Judd had a “significant” history of mental illness which includes anxiety, depression, and bipolar disorder.
She also battled chronic idiopathic pneumonitis, hypertension, hepatitis C, and hypothyroidism.
Judd had previously struggled with suicidal ideation and was enduring “recent life stressors” when she tragically passed away.
A toxicology test after she died revealed traces of prescription medications used to treat major depression, bipolar disorder, and PTSD.
Naomi Judd’s family granted the request to keep death photos private
Earlier this month, Judd’s family was granted a court order to keep her death record sealed from the public.
According to an NBC report, responding officers took photos and video from the scene along with other documents for evidence.
Naomi Judd’s husband, Larry Strickland, and her two daughters, Wynonna and Ashley, said in the filing that the release of the graphic record would cause “emotional distress, pain, and mental anguish.”