Actor Michael K Williams died of accidental drug overdose, coroner reports

Actor Michael K. Williams died of an accidental drug overdose from a combination of fentanyl, parafluorofentanyl, heroin and cocaine, New York City’s medical examiner has said.

Emmy nominee Williams, 54, known for playing Omar Little on The Wire, was found dead earlier this month by family members in his penthouse apartment.

Police said at the time that they suspected a drug overdose.

Williams had spoken frankly in interviews in recent years about his struggle with drug addiction, which he said persisted after he gained fame on The Wire in the early 2000s.

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"I was playing with fire," he told the Newark Star-Ledger in 2012.

"It was just a matter of time before I got caught and my business ended up on the cover of a tabloid or I went to jail or, worse, I ended up dead. When I look back on it now, I don’t know how I didn’t end up in a body bag."

New York Police Commissioner Dermot Shea said in an interview shortly after Williams' death that he had spoken with the actor earlier this year about collaborating with the department on community outreach.

Williams had been working with a New Jersey charity to help former prisoners get back into society and was working on a documentary on the subject.

Another project involved reaching out directly to at-risk youth.

"This Hollywood thing that you see me in, I’m passing through," Williams told the Associated Press last year.

"Because I believe this is where my passion, my purpose is supposed to be."

The city’s Office of Chief Medical Examiner said it would not comment further. A message seeking comment was left with Williams’ representative.