Fentanyl caused the death of Austin Majors, 27, from 'NYPD Blue'

Two rolled-up dollar bills, aluminum foil with a white glass-like powder, pills, and a glass with traces of white powder. That's what first responders found on the lifeless body of 27-year-old actor Austin Majors, TMZ reports. We now know the substance was fentanyl.

Majors was a successful child actor who rose to fame through the series 'NYPD Blue' in the 2000s. On February 11, 2023, he passed away.

Photo: @kaliraglin_ / Instagram

After months of investigation, the autopsy shows that the actor's death was caused by a fentanyl overdose. It is assumed the overdose was accidental.

Fentanyl is a powerful painkiller and anesthetic approved by the American Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of serious illnesses. However, as it is "approximately 100 times more potent than morphine and 50 times more potent than heroin as an analgesic," many people develop an addiction to the substance, the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) explains.

Image: DEA, US Government

According to the BBC, Americans in all layers of society have died from fentanyl overdoses since 2010, but in the past five years, addictions to the drug have caused a true epidemic. The substance doesn't just come from pharmacies anymore, but it's also manufactured illegally.

One of the epidemic's victims is Austin Majors. As La Vanguardia claims, the actor was not going through his best moment when he died. In fact, he was living in a homeless shelter in Los Angeles, California.

TMZ points out that the actor was trying to recover his life and overcome his drug addiction. Majors wanted to go back to the professional career that was so successful between 1999 and 2004.

Austin rose to fame after playing little Theo Sipowicz, son of Detective Andy Sipowicz (Dennis Franz), in the famous ABC detective series, 'NYPD Blue'.

Majors appeared in 7 seasons and 48 episodes of the series. He managed to win the 'Young Artist Award' in 2002.

After the detective series, the actor participated in 'ER', recorded two episodes of the miniseries 'Hercules', and participated in 'NCIS', 'According to Jim' and 'Desperate Housewives'.

His last major appearance was in an episode as a guest star of 'How I Met Your Mother', a CBS series in 2009. After that, it got quiet around the actor, then 14 years old.

The actor would venture into YouTube, but the success was not the same and both his career and his life were in decline. The situation was made worse when he got addicted to drugs.

After his death, the family issued a statement confirming his death and remembering him with great affection. They did not make any announcement about the tragic cause of death.

Majors was "a loving, artistic, brilliant, and kind human being," they said. His sister added: "Austin took great joy and pride in his acting career."

He was a very dedicated young boy, also an Eagle Scout, his family mentioned in their statement, "He was an active Eagle Scout and graduated Salutatorian in High School."

His family pointed out that he was a great brother to his sister Kali. "Kali says her fondest memories with Austin were growing up on set with him, volunteering at events with 'Kids With a Cause,' and backpacking together."

Although he wasn't on TV anymore, the young adult Majors kept working on his entertainment career. "He went on to graduate from USC's School of Cinematic Arts with a passion of directing and music producing," his family wrote.

Unfortunately, the career never materialized. Sadly, Hollywood once again lost someone to the fentanyl epidemic.