The cause of an Ohio University junior’s November death was acute methadone and alcohol intoxication, the Athens County coroner determined.
Yaara Mashmoor, 21, of Pepper Pike, Ohio, died Nov. 3. Her boyfriend discovered her unresponsive and not breathing in her Grosvenor Street home.
“Methadone is a drug that’s used for withdrawal symptoms for narcotic use and it’s also a pain medication,” said Harold Thompson, the Athens County coroner.
Methadone can cause life-threatening side effects such as slowed breathing and irregular heartbeat, according to the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Thompson said he did not know whether Mashmoor had a prescription for the drug.
“We continue to send our thoughts to her family and hope that they’re able to find peace in their memory of her,” Dean of Students Ryan Lombardi said.
Mashmoor was outgoing and loved dancing and drawing, said her friend Abby Helfand, a senior studying hospitality management and pre-law at Kent State University.
“She was friendly and reached out to me, and despite what anyone thought, she did what she thought was right,” Helfand said in November following Mashmoor’s death.
Grace Roulston, an OU senior studying video production who attended Orange High School with Mashmoor, spoke of Mashmoor’s sunny personality.
“Yaara was the most beautiful person, inside and out,” Roulston said in November. “She was always smiling and laughing, and everyone loved to be around her.”
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