The family of late Playboy Playmate Ashley Mattingly hope her suicide can help ‘shed light on prevention’ after an autopsy report revealed she died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Mattingly, 33, died at her home in Austin, Texas on April 15, while the state was in lockdown amid the coronavirus pandemic.
The model’s family say she long battled alcohol and substance abuse, but told The New York Post that the state’s ‘stay-at-home order was an additional burden’.
They described the Playmate as a ‘very social person’ who struggled with the enforced isolation period. Mattingly adopted a nine-month old puppy to help stave off her loneliness prior to her death.
Ashley Mattingly, 33, died at her home in Texas on April 15, after struggling amid the state’s coronavirus lockdown. She is pictured on the red carpet in 2012
The revelation prompted a former New York Times staffer to tweet: ‘Lockdowns kill. They kill the vulnerable, the lonely, the depressed, the unemployed, those who are trying to quit drugs and those who aren’t. They kill dog owners and gun owners. Lockdowns shake us all and some of us break. ‘
On Friday, TMZ obtained a copy of medical examiner’s report on Mattingly’s death, which stated that she placed a handgun in her mouth and pulled the trigger.
She also had opiates and benzodiazepines in her system.
Mattingly appeared on the March 2011 cover of Playboy magazine. She resided in Los Angeles for close to a decade, before returning to her home state of Texas two years ago.
The model’s family say she long battled alcohol and substance abuse, but told The New York Post that the state’s ‘stay-at-home order was an additional burden for Mattingly’. She is pictured in 2012
Just two days before her death, Mattingly posted a video of herself in hospital bed to Instagram, in which she revealed that she was ‘sick from alcohol.’
The caption read: ‘I’m not quarantined I took bad advice and drank too much which I vometed [sic] a lot of blood – please slow down on the drinking ! U won’t be able to get into a hospital ! I’m lucky!’
She appears to say: ‘I’m sick with alcohol…don’t drink it. Don’t drink it. Leave it alone.’
Other posts on her account show that she owned a gun – the weapon she is believed to have used in her suicide.
In a post on March 22, she shared a snap of a pistol strapped to her thigh.
Meanwhile, she also shared a slew of images of her adopted puppy, Miss Jean. Her family is now reportedly looking after the canine.
Days earlier: Mattingly shared a video of herself in the hospital on Instagram on April 13, two days before she took her own life aged 33
Puppy love: Mattingly’s siblings said she recently adopted a golden retriever puppy named Miss Jean to keep her company. The dog (pictured) is now being cared for by family
In 2016, Mattingly was charged with DUI counts after crashing a golf cart into cars
Since being named Playboy’s Miss March 2011, Mattingly had led a troubled life marked by misfortune.
In 2012, she was the victim of domestic violence when her ex-boyfriend, former Prison Break star Lane Garrison, was caught on surveillance video slapping her in the face at her Beverly Hills apartment.
Garrison argued after his arrest that Mattingly had grabbed his cell phone and his was reaching to retrieve it.
After spending two months in jail, Garrison pleaded no contest to a charge of domestic battery and was sentenced to probation, counseling and a fine.
Mattingly herself had a run-in with the law in 2016, when TMZ reported that she was charged with DUI counts after driving her custom golf cart into four parked cars.
Tragedy: Mattingly was found dead at her home in Austin, Texas, on April 16 after a friend called police and requested a wellness check because they hadn’t heard from her in several days. Her family say she struggled with alcohol and drug abuse for years; pictured in 2011
- If you are in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.
- For confidential support, call the Samaritans on 116123 or visit a local branch. See www.samaritans.org for details.
- For confidential support in Australia LIFELINE: 13 11 14 www.lifeline.org.au or Kids Helpline 1800 55 1800