Lyric McHenry was found dead on August 14
Police have released a video of the man who is believed to be the last person to see pregnant reality television star Lyric McHenry alive.
The mystery man in the footage released on Saturday is thought to be the individual who was seen driving off with McHenry from a Manhattan club early on August 14, hours before she was found dead in the Bronx.
Sources told DailyMail.com that the mystery man had showed up trying to meet McHenry at an upscale Chelsea club Dream Downtown, but was denied entry.
After texting with the man, whom none of her friends recognized, McHenry left the club and drove away with him, the sources said
McHenry, who starred in Magic Johnson’s son’s reality TV show EJNYC, was found dead after a suspected overdose, close to the Major Deegan Expressway just after 5am on August 14. She was wearing only underwear and a shirt, but showed no signs of trauma, and was 20 weeks pregnant, police said.
The NYPD on Saturday released the above images of the man sought for questioning in Lyric McHenry’s death. He is believed to be the last to see the reality star alive
Lyric McHenry (above) exchanged texts with the mystery man before leaving the club where she was celebrating her 26th birthday. None of her friends recognized the man
Lyric was celebrating her birthday at the upscale club (pictured) and went downstairs to try to get the mystery man inside, after he was denied entry. A friend told DailyMail.com: ‘The doorman didn’t let him in, so she left with him’
McHenry had been celebrating her 26th birthday in lower Manhattan and her final party destination was Dream Downtown in Chelsea. She was discovered hours later in the Bronx
She had been out partying in lower Manhattan, celebrating her 26th birthday with visits to a series of upscale bars and clubs with her friends and her sister Maya.
DailyMail.com can reveal that at the final stop of the night, at Dream Downtown, she left with the mystery man.
Friends have also told DailyMail.com that McHenry was in a casual relationship with a man from the Bronx at the time of her death – and that they suspect he may have been a drug dealer.
‘Nobody knows who the guy she left with is,’ a source told DailyMail.com. ‘He went to meet her at Dream. She went downstairs to get this guy in, whoever he was.
‘You know how these clubs are, you have to look a certain type of way. The doorman didn’t let him in, so she left with him.’
Family spokeswoman, Edna Sims said: ‘Lyric’s sister Maya gave this birthday party for her over at the Dream. They were all having a wonderful time, dancing, and she had her closest friends there.
‘Maya looked up and she said “where’s Lyric?” A friend said she went downstairs to get somebody in, because they weren’t letting that person in.
‘Lyric goes to the car and she gets in with whoever it was. That’s the last they saw or heard from her that night.
‘The friends didn’t get a look at this person. And Lyric just went downstairs, she didn’t say who it was.’
The 26-year-old who starred in Magic Johnson’s son’s reality TV show EJNYC, was celebrating her birthday that night (pictured) in lower Manhattan. Above are pictures she had posted on her Instagram story hours before her death
None of McHenry’s inner circle, including her sister Maya or ex-boyfriend Charles Mwalimu, knew who the man was, although they were aware she was dating someone new.
McHenry’s friend explained: ‘She had been seeing someone who lived in the Bronx. But I don’t think it was a serious relationship by any means.
‘I don’t know if he was her regular dealer or what the deal is. Because nobody knows much about him other than the fact she had slept with him a few times.
‘Of all the people who know her, apparently only one guy ever saw him in person, once, and the only description he could provide is ‘a large black man’.’
Sims said the family were also unaware of the man’s identity and added that they ‘did not know if she had a boyfriend’.
Police are now combing through McHenry’s call and text records from that night in an attempt to identify who she spoke to the day she disappeared.
Last week, the NYPD said they believed that McHenry died of a drug overdose and had what appeared to be a bag of cocaine at her side.
McHenry was discovered above the Major Deegan Expressway (pictured) in the Bronx around 5am on August 14 – authorities said she was alive when found but later died in the hospital
They said she was still alive when she was discovered slumped on a sidewalk at 5.05am but died later in hospital.
An autopsy report is due in the next few weeks, according to Sims, who also told DailyMail.com that the family did not know of McHenry’s pregnancy prior to her death.
Sims confirmed the pregnancy to DailyMail.com, saying: ‘The preliminary medical examiners report shows she was 20 weeks pregnant, but she didn’t know. That is confirmed now.
Her organs, her heart and kidneys were good. There were no other bruises on her body apart from her knees. And she was not raped, according to Sims.
‘We won’t have a cause of death until the toxicology report comes out, which will be in a few weeks,’ Sims said.
A friend added: ‘She did not tell anyone [she was pregnant]. I don’t even think she knew. If she was doing cocaine regularly it’s possible that she already had irregular periods, and perhaps that’s why she wouldn’t know.’
The Stanford graduate had moved back to her hometown of Los Angeles in February this year to pursue her TV career and begin a postgraduate course but had been visiting her sister and friends in New York regularly.
Anyone with information about Lyric McHenry’s death is urged to call Crime Stoppers anonymously at 800-577-TIPS for a potential cash reward.