King Boozing, Smoking Weed Before He Died

Fiancée Cynthia Kelley says she heard screams
By Neal Colgrass,  Newser Staff
Posted Jun 17, 2012 2:07 PM CDT
King Boozing, Smoking Weed Before He Died
Rodney King speaks with fans in Los Angeles, Calif., on April 30, 2012.   (Getty Images)

Rodney King drank all day yesterday and smoked marijuana for hours before dying at the bottom of his swimming pool early this morning, TMZ reports. Sources close to King say his fiancée, Cynthia Kelley, tells them she went to bed at 2 a.m. and was awakened at 5 a.m. by his screams in the backyard of his Rialto, Calif., home. She saw him naked, banging to get in, and she asked, "What's wrong, Rodney?"

When she went for her phone, she heard a splash. So she ran outside and, seeing him at the bottom of the pool, called police. But paramedics couldn't revive him when they showed up. In another story, TMZ reports that King was in good spirits about fighting Jose Canseco in a celebrity boxing match in August. King's friend Damon Feldman says King was excited to be working again and looking forward to the fight. (See his pool and videos from his past at TMZ.)

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