Eric Bolling Jr. Died Of Deadly Opioid Fentanyl, Cocaine Overdose

Former Fox News host Eric Bolling’s son, who was found dead in his apartment in Boulder, Colorado, Sept. 8, died due to an overdose of a mix of cocaine and the painkiller fentanyl, autopsy results revealed. The reports came out six weeks after Eric Bolling Jr., a sophomore at the University of Colorado, was found dead in his bed.

“Just received some tragic news from Coroner in Colorado. Eric Chase’s passing has been ruled an accidental overdose that included opioids,” Eric Sr. revealed on Twitter on Thursday.

Soon after his death, reports claimed Eric Jr. was under "emotional torture" due to his father's sexting scandal, which had led to his suspension in August from Fox News over claims of sending pictures of his genitals to female co-workers. Eric Jr. died hours after his father left the network.

The toxicology report revealed the cause of death, and said Eric Jr. had very high levels of cocaine, as well as the presence of the deadly opioid fentanyl and prescription sedative Xanax, in his system.

In tweets Thursday, Eric Sr. also wrote: "We must fight against this national epidemic, too many innocent victims."

News of the autopsy results came the same day President Donald Trump declared the opioid crisis a national emergency. Trump called for “really tough, really big, really great advertising” to “teach young people not to take drugs,” according to the New York Times. The number of opioid deaths has increased since 2000 by more than 137 percent, according to TIME.

Last month Eric Jr.'s close friend Wayne Carter, 21, spoke to Daily Mail about the teenager's illicit substance consumption at a party the night before his death. He also revealed Eric Jr. had once taken heroin but the night before his death he was sticking to "just college drugs — cocaine, weed, alcohol, Xanax sometimes."

Amid rumors of his death being a suicide, caused by emotional trouble from his father's scandal, Eric Jr.'s friend denied the 19-year-old could take his own life.

"I'll put it like this — he was a partier. I don't think he would have intentionally done it [killed himself]. But I definitely think he upped it once when he heard that news and that's what caused his demise," Carter told Daily Mail, referring to the sexting scandal.

On the day of his son’s death, Bolling tweeted: “Authorities have informed us there is no sign of self harm at this point. Autopsy will be next week. Please respect our grieving period.”

Earlier this week, former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly apologized to Eric Sr. in a tweet after he implied in a recent interview the ousted Fox News host's son’s death was linked to his father's scandal. “Apologies to Eric Bolling and prayers for him and his family. The message I tried to send was that allegations harm kids. Nothing more.”