YouTube Star Etika's Cause of Death Revealed after His Body Was Found in NY's East River

YouTuber Desmond Amofah, better known as Etika among the gaming community, was found dead one week after he went missing in New York. The young man shared a worrisome video hours before he went missing, in which he talked about taking his own life.

Desmond Amofah, a 29-year-old gaming YouTuber from Brooklyn, committed suicide last Tuesday, according to the New York Police Department.

A TRAGIC ENDING

On June 19, Etika shared a now-deleted YouTube video titled “I’m Sorry” where he talked about being suicidal and told his fans and friends that he was sorry for pushing them all away and for hurting so many people.

Hours after the video was posted, NYPD issued a missing person alert on Etika, asking for the help of the public to locate him.

That same day, investigators found Etika’s belongings, including his wallet, cellphone, a Nintendo switch, and a bag with clothes on the Brooklyn Bridge. However, that info was shared a few days later by the NY Post.

Police confirmed this Tuesday that Etika’s body was discovered on the East River near the South Street Seaport shortly before 6:30 p.m. on Monday. His death was ruled a suicide by drowning.

“I’m sorry for leaving such a stained legacy,” the young man said in his last video. “I hope that my story maybe helps to make YouTube a better place in the future where people know boundaries and limits and how far things should go.”

A NOT-SO-SILENT CRY FOR HELP

The gaming community is mourning Etika’s loss, and his death has opened a discussion about mental health among pro-gamers, professional streamers, and YouTubers in a community where most people are looked down or tilled as “attention seekers” if they share their internal struggles.

Months before his demise, Etika had shown erratic behavior, and some of his closest friends knew he wasn’t doing ok.

Last October, Etika wrote a suicidal message on Reddit that read: “And now, it’s my turn to die. I love you all. Keep fighting for me, ok? I’ll miss yall,” causing alarm among his fans and followers. Shortly after, he issued an apology, stating: “I’m sorry for worrying all of you. I’m sorry for making you all fear that I was suicidal.”

That same month his original YouTube channel was deleted after he posted videos with adult content, which are a violation of the platform’s guidelines. He was also banned from Twitch for using a homophobic slur.

THE MOST RECENT INCIDENT

In April, he made another series of suicidal tweets, sparking alarm once again among his 300k followers and earning words of advice from fellow content creators to leave social media and seek professional help.

At the time, Etika reached out to Alice Pika, a fellow streamer and ex-girlfriend, who assured fans he was doing ok and she was watching him at home.

Soon after, he kicked Alice of his house and then live-streamed a standoff with NYPD, who had arrived to do a welfare check on him.

Etika was arrested and taken to a hospital; an NYPD spokesperson confirmed to the gaming site Kotaku at the time.

FANS WANT HIS CHANNEL BACK

As Etika’s fans keep dealing with the pain of his loss, some of them have created a petition asking YouTube to restore his original channel, the one deleted in October so that they can have an archive of his greatest memories on the website.

“We the YouTube community and the Joycon Boyz [Amofah’s term for his fans] demand that his YouTube channel be reinstated so his legacy can be archived,” the petition states.

And continues:

“Years of memories are gone due to his misconduct of a few uploads, and we think someone who has done so much for the YouTube platform should be allowed to have his greatest moments archived on YouTube forever.”

Until now, the petition has more than 380k signs.

Rest in Peace, Desmond.

The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is 1-800-273-8255. Other international suicide helplines can be found at befrienders.org