Reality TV Personality Lyric McHenry Found Dead In New York; Family Releases Statement

The family of Lyric McHenry, the reality TV personality found dead yesterday on a Bronx street, says reports of a drug overdose as the cause of death have not been verified.

“Despite the speculation in earlier reports,” the McHenry family said in a statement, “at this point in time the cause of Lyric’s death has yet to be determined.”

McHenry, who produced and appeared in E!’s one-season show EJ NYC starring Magic Johnson’s son EJ Johnson, was the daughter of producer Doug McHenry (New Jack City, Malcolm & Eddie).

The New York Daily News reported yesterday that the 26-year-old Lyric McHenry was found dead on the sidewalk in the Bronx above the Major Deegan Expressway at about 5 a.m. According to the Daily News, the pregnant McHenry was only partially clothed and was in possession of cocaine, leading police to suspect a drug overdose and investigating whether she had been “dumped on the sidewalk.”

In the McHenry family’s statement today, Lyric was remembered as “a brilliant, creative and lovely young woman who shared a deep passion for writing, film and a long-standing commitment to social justice. She was a Christian who grew up in Los Angeles and attended the Center for Early Education and graduated from the Marlborough School in Los Angeles.”

After beginning her career as an intern on The Real Husbands of Hollywood, McHenry worked at United Talent Agency, Refinery 29 and Complex, according to her family.

In 2007, at 15, McHenry (above, with Michelle Obama) volunteered for the Obama Campaign and then again in 2012.

At the time of her death, the family wrote, McHenry “was working on packaging and development of several well-regarded film and TV projects. She was also interviewing for several West Coast Media jobs having returned to LA in February from working in NYC for several years and preparing her applications for a business school MBA Program.”

“Lyric’s warmth, compassion and energy will be missed by many and the family would appreciate that all speculation surrounding the circumstances of death cease until the real facts are determined during the current investigation by the NYPD and the City of New York,” the family’s statement reads.

McHenry is survived by father Doug, mother Jennifer and sister Maya. Funeral services in Los Angeles are pending.