Lisa Marie Presley’s Cause of Death Deferred by Coroner Pending Further Investigation
It is still unclear what caused Lisa Marie Presley‘s death. The 54-year-old former pop singer — and only child of rock legend Elvis Presley — died last Thursday (Jan. 12) after being hospitalized earlier in the day following a report of a woman in full cardiac arrest at an address associated with Presley.
At the time, the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department said paramedics performed CPR and “determined the patient had signs of life” before rushing her to the hospital. To date, no details about a cause of death or any possible precipitating incidents or health issues have been revealed, and according to CNN, that information might take some time.
“Presley was examined on Jan. 14 and the cause of death was deferred,” Sarah Ardalani, spokesperson with the LA County Dept. of Medical Examiner-Coroner, told CNN. “Deferred means that after an autopsy, a cause of death has not been determined and the medical examiner is requesting more investigation into the death, including additional studies. Once the tests/studies come back, the doctor evaluates the case again and makes the cause of death determination.”
Presley, 54, attended the Golden Globes just two days before her passing, on hand to celebrate Austin Butler’s award for playing her father in Elvis. She called his performance “mind-blowing” during a red carpet interview with Entertainment Tonight. “I really didn’t know what to do with myself after I saw it,” she told ET of Baz Luhrmann’s movie. “I had to take, like, five days to process it because it was so incredible and so spot on and just so authentic that, yeah, I can’t even describe what it meant.”
Just days before that, she was in Memphis, Tennessee, at Graceland — the mansion where Elvis lived — to celebrate the 88th anniversary of her father’s birth on Jan. 8. A public memorial for Presley is planned on the front lawn at Graceland on Jan. 22. The general public is invited to attend, with details about the service available here.
Presley will be buried at Graceland next to her son, Benjamin Keough, who died in 2020. Elvis and other members of the Presley family are also buried at Graceland.
Gil Kaufman
Billboard