Death of Ray Lewis III ruled accidental and due to drugs

The local medical examiner’s office has ruled the death of Ray Lewis III, a son of former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, accidental and due to a lethal combination of drugs in his system, an investigator said Saturday.

Lewis III, 28, was found unconscious in a Central Florida home on June 14. Lifesaving attempts were unsuccessful and he died at a hospital. Police said at the time it was a suspected overdose.

An investigator with the Medical Examiner’s Office that serves Seminole County on Saturday provided a reporter with Lewis’ cause and manner of death while a request for the full autopsy report was pending. The office ruled the manner of death an accident and the cause as a mix of fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine.

Lewis III attended Lake Mary Prep in Florida, then played football at the University of Miami, Coastal Carolina and Virginia Union University. His coach at VUU told The Sun after his death that Lewis III was a “tremendous young man who played with the spirit of a lion.”

In 2011, while playing for his high school team, Lewis III ran for 236 yards and four touchdowns at a game attended by his father, the Hall of Fame linebacker, who was able to make it thanks to a bye week for the Ravens.

“I would like to follow in his footsteps,” Lewis III told The Sun about his father in 2010. “One day, I do have a dream of going into the NFL, but I also have a dream of making a difference in people’s lives outside the football field.”

Following Lewis III’s death, his brother, Rashaan Lewis, said on Instagram that he prayed his older brother was at peace and that he “won’t ever have the words” to describe the loss.

“Be our guardian,” he wrote. “I promise I’ll make you smile and be proud.”

“We will see you again,” Ray Lewis said at the eulogy for his late son last month at Calvary Orlando Church in Florida, according to the New York Post. “Twenty-eight years, watching my firstborn child … the referees thought I was crazy running up and down the sideline.

“My son used to always say to me, ‘Pops, let’s make today a good day.’ And today, now that I finally see my son’s physical body, you will make today a good day.”

Ray Lewis is credited with changing the linebacker position in the NFL in his 17-year career with the Ravens, with whom he won two Super Bowl titles. He retired from football in 2013 and was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2018.