Drug-related death of 32-year-old model found in DTLA apartment is ruled accidental, coroner says

DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- The drug-related death of a 32-year-old model has been ruled accidental some six weeks after her body was found in her downtown Los Angeles apartment, coroner's officials said Tuesday.

Nichole Coats died at her residence, and the cause was deemed to be cocaine and ethanol toxicity, according to the Los Angeles County coroner's office.
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Another model, 31-year-old Maleesa Mooney, was found deceased in her downtown L.A. apartment on Sept. 12, two days after Coats' body was discovered.

Last month, the Los Angeles Police Department said investigations indicated that the two deaths did not appear to be related.

Families of 2 young women found dead in DTLA apartments seek answers as police investigate


According to the LAPD, officers responded to the Eighth & Grand Apartments on Sept. 10 to conduct a welfare check. Coats' father also checked on his daughter and she was found dead inside her residence, where she lived alone.



"I was so distraught... I just felt like everything was moving in slow motion. And I still am in shock... in denial that she's not here," her cousin, Sheniya Mason, said at the time.
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In an interview last month, Coats' mother Sharon told ABC7: "I'm devastated that it happened to Nicole. This is horrible... it's like a dream, that my daughter's going to walk through the door and she's not. She's gone," she said. "I'm just trying to piece everything together, but I still feel that something fishy is going on."



Coats' father, Guy Coats, told ABC News that his daughter worked from home as a sales rep but was an aspiring model.