YouTuber Etika Died by Suicide, Drowning in East River: ME
A popular YouTube personality and gamer from Brooklyn who went missing after posting a cryptic video last week drowned by suicide in the East River, the medical examiner confirmed Wednesday.
Thousands of fans mourned 29-year-old Desmond Amofah, better known as Etika, after NYPD confirmed Tuesday that the body found in the waters near South Street Seaport in Lower Manhattan around 6:30 p.m. Monday belonged to the online entertainer.
Some fans are calling for YouTube to restore Etika's 8-minute video, published sometime shortly before he went missing, where he apologized to people he felt he let down. The platform said it removed the video "for violating YouTube's Community Guidelines."
"Please @TeamYouTube restore Etika’s 'I’m sorry' video. It’s the mans final words. They should not be deleted!," Keemstar, a famous YouTuber from Buffalo, New York, said on Twitter. Over 368,000 people have already signed his Change.org petition as of Wednesday morning to have the video restored.
Etika's community flooded social media with messages of support and expressing sadness over the entertainer's death, using the hashtag #JOYCONBOYZFOREVER. Amofah popularized the "Joycon Boys" term over his love of of Nintendo's Switch video game console.
"Mental illness is not a joke, nor is it something you should keep inside. I've had my struggles from time to time too. We all do. REACH OUT when it happens, no matter how much you feel you can't. Nobody is alone in this life," FaZeCBass, a popular Twitch streamer said on Twitter.
In a statement, YouTube said "We mourn the loss of Etika, a beloved member of our gaming creator community. All of us at YouTube are sending condolences to his loved ones and fans."
Police sources had told News 4 that Amofah had a history with mental illness and had been hospitalized in the past. Authorities found his personal items, including a phone and identification, on the Manhattan Bridge last week.
The cryptic video he posted before he went missing was not the first time the 29-year-old posted that kind of concerning content online. In April, police were called after Amofah posted some disturbing tweets.
If you are in crisis, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255 or reach out to the Crisis Text Line by texting 'Home' to 741741
Photo Credit: Handout
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from NBC New York - Top Stories https://ift.tt/2ZMZskm
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