WASHINGTON — The mother of late singer Aaron Carter is publicly calling on police to do more to investigate her son's death, accusing authorities of focusing too much on his struggles with drug addiction.
The 34-year-old "I Want Candy" singer and former child star was found dead in his California home on Nov. 5. Authorities at the time said a house sitter found Carter in the bathtub of his home and resuscitation efforts were unsuccessful.
As part of her public plea on Wednesday, Jane Schneck, formerly Jane Carter, posted disturbing photos from what she said was the scene of Carter's death.
"Still trying to get a real investigation for the death of my son Aaron Carter," Schneck wrote in her Facebook post. "I want to share these death scene photos with you all because the coroner wrote it off as an accidental drug overdose."
The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner has officially deferred announcing a cause of death "Pending Additional Investigation."
"They never investigated it as a possible crime scene because of his addiction past," Schneck added. "But they allowed people to go in and out. Although a lot of potential homicide information was there for years."
The photos she shared show a bath tub full of greenish-brown water and what appear to be dirty clothes on the floor. It's unclear who exactly took the photos, but Schneck said the pictures were not taken by the police.
She added that Carter "had a lot of death threats" and "many people who were making his life miserable."
The Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said in statement that "Homicide detectives are continuing their investigation into the death of Aaron Carter. To date, there has been no evidence of foul play found during the investigation. The results of Mr. Carter’s autopsy are still pending. The investigation remains ongoing.”
Carter had publicly struggled with substance abuse and mental health. In 2017, he attended rehab and was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and marijuana charges. In 2019, Carter said on an episode of the talk show “The Doctors” that he was taking medication for acute anxiety, manic depression and multiple personality disorder.
In September, Carter said he went into rehab for the fifth time in the hopes of regaining custody of his young son, Prince, with his fiancé Melanie Martin.
In a follow-up Facebook post, Schneck explained that she's "totally supported by the family and friends who know I had to post the awful photos" and said there "are people who must be held accountable."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.