Questions about the stunning death of former E! reality star Lyric McHenry continue to circulate.
Very early on the morning of August 14, the close friend of EJ Johnson and the woman who appeared on multiple episodes of EJNYC was found dead on a sidewalk in New York City.
She was wearing only a pajama top and underwear and, most disturbing of all, a ziplock bag with cocaine inside was also discovered on her person.
Also, according to initial reports, McHenry was 20 weeks pregnant at the time of her death.
Just awful, right?
However, it was assumed upon reading these reports, at least by us at The Hollywood Gossip, that medical tests had been run that proven McHenry was expecting a child.
Now, though, it seems as if this may not have been the case.
A family spokesperson named Edna Sims Porter tells Us Weekly that McHenry’s loved ones were unaware of any pregnancy, stating for the record:
“Lyric did not share that with the family, so we’ll all have to wait for the autopsy report.”
This quote comes on the heels of a close friend saying something similar, expressing shock that McHenry was allegedly pregnant.
Porter, meanwhile, goes on to imply (or outright say, really) that no exam was performed that proved Lyric was going to be a mother.
“I’ve seen the police report and I talked to the police about that and they said to me, ‘That was from someone that we interviewed,"” Porter explains of how this strong rumor got started.
She concludes;
“That’s one of the things we’re going to find out the details about.
“We’re all baffled because you don’t even see a baby bump. Twenty weeks, that’s five months, right? It seems like she would be showing.”
McHenry was a Stanford graduate who volunteered years ago for Barack Obama.
She also worked as a television producer.
Due to the state of her body when she was found by the police, along with the bag of cocaine of course, it has been presumed that she died of a drug overdose.
Still, we are awaiting the results of an autopsy and those close to Lyric remain puzzled by how she went from happily celebrating her birthday with friends on Monday evening…
… to ending up as she did just a few hours later in the Bronx.
Per The New York Daily News, the reality star was “found sprawled out on the sidewalk above the Major Deegan Expressway at Undercliff Ave. and Boscobel Place in Highbridge at about 5 a.m.”
McHenry made multiple cameos on EJNYC, a spinoff of Rich Kids of Beverly Hills, back in 2016.
Shortly after the terrible news of her passing went viral, her family released a statement that reads as follows:
In contrast, what is factual and known is that Lyric who just turned 26 last week on August 6, was a brilliant, creative and lovely young woman who shared a deep passion for writing, film and a long-standing commitment to social justice.
She was a Christian who grew up in Los Angeles and attended the Center for Early Education and graduated from the Marlborough School in Los Angeles.
Lyric graduated from Stanford University in 2014 where she studied in Paris, France for a year and spoke fluent French…
McHenry poses here with Michelle Obama. The late 26-year old was known for her political activism.
Lyric’s warmth, compassion and energy will be missed by many and the family would appreciate that all speculation surrounding the circumstances of death cease until the real facts are determined during the current investigation by the NYPD and the City of New York…
The Funeral Service will be held in her hometown Los Angeles at a date to be determined.
McHenry is survived by her father, producer and Director Doug McHenry, her mother Jennifer, a stylist, and her sister, Maya McHenry, who also appeared on episodes of EJNYC.
May she rest in peace.
