Tragic details surrounding Naomi Judd’s suicide have surfaced via the singer’s autopsy report obtained by Page Six on Friday, August 26.
According to the documents from the Nashville medical examiner’s office, the country crooner was found “unresponsive in her home by family” at 10:57 a.m. local time on April 30. She was 76 years old.
“She had an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound and was transported to Williamson Medical Center where she was pronounced dead shortly after arrival,” the report states.
“Per family, the decedent has had prior suicidal ideations and recent life stressors. A weapon and a note with suicidal connotations were found near the decedent at the scene,” the autopsy continues, revealing that Judd has a medical history of “significant” anxiety, bipolar disorder, chronic idiopathic pneumonitis, hepatitis C, hypertension, hypothyroidism and depression.
Naomi’s daughters, Ashley Judd and Wynonna Judd announced their mother’s passing via Twitter on April 30.
“Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness,” they wrote in a joint statement at the time. “We are shattered. We are navigating profound grief and know that as we loved her, she was loved by her public. We are in unknown territory.”
The next day, The Judds — Naomi and Wynonna’s award-winning country duo — were inducted into the Country Hall of Fame.
“I didn’t prepare anything tonight because I knew mom would probably talk the most,” Wynonna, 58, said on stage with her sister. “I’m gonna make this fast because my heart’s broken, and I feel so blessed. It’s a very strange dynamic, to be this broken and this blessed. … Though my heart’s broken, I will continue to sing, because that’s what we do.”
Less than one month later, Ashley, 54, opened up about her mother’s death being self-inflicted.
“She used a weapon … my mother used a firearm,” the Heat star said on Good Morning America in May. “So that’s the piece of information that we are very uncomfortable sharing, but understand that we’re in a position that if we don’t say it someone else is going to.”
In her conversation with Diane Sawyer, the Kiss the Girls actress got candid about her mom’s ongoing battle with mental illness.
“My mother knew that she was seen and she was heard in her anguish. She was walked home,” the Double Jeopardy star said. “When we’re talking about mental illness, it’s very important to be clear and make the distinction between our loved one and the disease. It’s very real. It lies, it’s savage. My mother, our mother, couldn’t hang on until she was inducted into the Country Hall of Fame by her peers. I mean, that is the level of catastrophe of what was going on inside of her. … The lie that the disease told her was so convincing. … [The lie] that you’re not enough, the lie that you’re not loved, that you’re not worthy. Her brain hurt. It physically hurt.”
According to the documents obtained by Page Six on Friday, the gunshot “perforated through the right side of the scalp and entered the skull through an entrance-type gunshot wound.”
The toxicology report, also provided by the Nashville medical examiner’s office, revealed the “Mama He’s Crazy” singer had several different drugs in her system at the time of death.
If you or someone you know is in emotional distress or considering suicide, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).