On February 8, 2007, Smith was found dead in room 607 at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Hollywood, Florida.
Tasma Brighthaupt, a friend of Smith who was a trained emergency nurse, performed CPR for 15 minutes until her husband, Maurice “Big Moe” Brighthaupt, Smith’s friend and bodyguard,[70] took over CPR. He had driven back to the hotel after being notified by his wife of Smith’s condition. According to Seminole Police Chief Charlie Tiger, at 1:38 p.m. (18:38 UTC) Maurice Brighthaupt, who was also a trained paramedic, called the hotel front desk from her sixth-floor room. The front desk in turn called security, who then called 911. At 1:45 p.m. the bodyguard administered CPR until paramedics arrived and Smith was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital at 2:10 p.m. and pronounced dead on arrival at 2:49 p.m.
After a seven-week investigation led by Broward County Medical Examiner and Forensic Pathologist Dr. Joshua Perper in combination with the Seminole police and several independent forensic pathologists and toxicologists, Dr. Perper announced that Smith died of “combined drug intoxication” with the sleeping medication chloral hydrate as the “major component.”[73] No illegal drugs were found in her system. The official report states that her death was not considered to be due to homicide, suicide, or natural causes.The full investigative report has been made public and can be found online.Additionally, an official copy of the autopsy report was publicly released on March 26, 2007, and can be found online.