Tyler Sanders’s cause of death has been determined just over six months since he died aged 18.
The young actor, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Leo in the Amazon spinoff series Just Add Magic: Mystery City, was found dead in his Los Angeles apartment in June.
According to the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner autopsy report obtained by NBC News, Sanders’s death was caused by “fentanyl effects”.
According to the autopsy, Sanders’s friend, who had discovered his unresponsive body, “had been texting with him the night prior and he reported using fentanyl. Drug paraphernalia was identified on scene”.
Later toxicology tests confirmed Sanders had the “potent” drug in his system.
“Fentanyl … is a synthetic opioid, which is approximately 50-100 times as potent as morphine,” the report said, adding that Sanders “had a history of drug use”.
Sanders’s death was ruled an accident by the coroners.
The actor’s first TV credit was in JLW Academy, a 2015 sitcom. Shortly after, he featured in multiple short films, before taking the role of Young Jake Otto in one episode of Fear the Walking Dead.
In 2019, Sanders starred in Just Add Magic: Mystery City, a fantasy show about three step-siblings who’ve become the new protectors of a magic cookbook.
His portrayal of Leo, one of the siblings, earned him a nod at the 2021 Emmys for Outstanding Principal Performance in a Children’s Programme.
He also appeared on an episode of 9-1-1: Long Star season three, the action show led by Rob Lowe about the only surviving firefighter of a Manhattan firehouse after 9/11.
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