Naomi Judd’s autopsy has confirmed how the country singer died.
Judd’s death was announced in April by her family, with her daughters, singer Wynonna Judd and actress Ashley Judd, stating that their mother died ‘to the disease of mental illness’.
It has now been confirmed that the musician, who was 76-years-old at her time of death, died by suicide.
The autopsy, which is considered a public record in Tennessee, showed that Judd – who was one half of the Grammy Award-winning duo The Judds – died from a gunshot wound which was self-inflicted.
Judd was struggling with bipolar at the time, with her family revealing she was also grappling with post-traumatic stress.
She was taking prescription drugs to manage her post-traumatic stress and bipolar, according to the medical examiner’s report.
Judd and her family had previously discussed her long struggle with depression prior to her death, but never went into details.
Now, her autopsy states that the former signer had a ‘significant’ history of anxiety, depression and bipolar disorder, citing information provided by her family.
Judd is also said to have previously contemplated dying by suicide and was enduring ‘recent life stressors’ when she took her own life at her home in Tennessee during the late morning of April 30.
Released on Friday, the report – signed by assistant Nashville medical examiner Emily Dennison – confirms that Judd was found badly wounded by her daughter Ashley.
Next to her body was ‘a note with suicidal connotations’, along with the gun.
Emergency services were called to Judd’s home and they took her to a hospital south of Nashville, where she was pronounced dead.
Following her death, Judd’s family issued the following statement: ‘Today we sisters experienced a tragedy. We lost our beautiful mother to the disease of mental illness. 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.’
At the time of her death, Judd was just days away from being inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame with her sister in celebration of their stellar career.
They embarked on their successful singing careers after the matriarch attended nursing school in California.
Between 1984 and 1991, the duo released six studio albums and an EP, winning nine Country Music Association Awards and seven Academy of Country Music accolades.
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