Jimmy Hayes, who won a national hockey championship at Boston College and played seven seasons in the NHL, including two with the Bruins, had fentanyl and cocaine in his system when he died in August at his home in Milton, Mass.
Nearly two months after Jimmy Hayes unexpectedly died at the age of 31 in his Milton, Massachusetts, home, the cause and manner of his death have been revealed.
The former Boston Bruins forward died with fentanyl and cocaine in his system, a spokesperson for the state’s executive office of public safety and security told NBC10 Boston Sunday night.
Following an autopsy, the medical examiner determined the Dorchester native died from acute intoxication due to the combined effects of the two drugs. His death was ruled an accident.
Foul play had not been suspected after first responders pronounced the former professional hockey player dead at his home on Aug. 23, the morning after he and his wife Kristen celebrated their son Beau’s second birthday with friends, family and former teammates.
In a Sunday interview with the Boston Globe, Kristen Hayes said she was “completely shocked” by the findings about her husband’s death. She was on her way to New Jersey for a tribute to Jimmy at the Devils-Blackhawks game Friday when she got the toxicology report from the state medical examiner.
“I was so certain that it had nothing to do with drugs. I really thought it was a heart attack or anything that wasn’t that [drugs] … It didn’t make any sense, so it was hard. I was hoping to get a different phone call when they called. I was hoping to get some clarity and I was shocked to hear that it was that … He never showed any signs of a struggle at home,” she told the Globe.