(L.A.) Richard Hernandez Diaz, 27, Died at a Residence

Case Number: 2023-02579

Los Angeles County is reporting the death of a 27-year-old male of Latin American ethnicity that occurred at a residence.

The coroner’s office has identified the man as Richard Hernandez Diaz.

Manner of Death: Accident

Cause of Death: Combined Effects of Cocaine and Ethanol

RIP RICHARD HERNANDEZ DIAZ (July 11, 1995 – March 7, 2023)

Formal pronouncement of death was made on Tuesday at 9:22 a.m.

Ruling by the deputy medical examiner was published on September 20/21, presumably after the results of tox screening came back.

Cocaine is taken frequently together with ethanol and this combination produces a psychoactive metabolite called cocaethylene which has similar properties to the parent drug and may be more cardiotoxic. Cocaethylene has a longer half-life than cocaine, so that people who combine cocaine and ethanol may experience a longer-lasting, as well as more intense, psychoactive effect. Cocaethylene is the only known instance where a new psychoactive substance is formed entirely within the body.