Death of Michael Jackson

On June 25, 2009, American singer Michael Jackson died at the age of 50 in Los Angeles, California. His personal physician, Conrad Murray, said he found Jackson unresponsive in his bedroom at his North Carolwood Drive home in Holmby Hills, performed CPR without success, and that a security guard called 9-1-1 at 12:21 p.m. Paramedics treated Jackson at the scene before he was transported to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead at 2:26 p.m.

According to accounts given by Murray, Jackson had long suffered from insomnia. On the night before his death, Murray administered a series of sedatives — including diazepam, lorazepam, and midazolam — and, after Jackson remained awake and repeatedly asked for "milk" (his nickname for propofol), Murray administered 25 milligrams of propofol diluted with lidocaine at 10:40 a.m. Murray testified he left the bedside briefly and returned to find Jackson not breathing. Statements and the released 911 call indicated Murray performed CPR on the bed rather than a hard surface and used a non-standard one-handed technique. Murray did not personally call 911; a security guard did so nearly ninety minutes after Jackson was first found unresponsive. It later emerged Murray made undisclosed personal phone calls during that interval.

A three-hour autopsy was conducted on June 26, 2009, by the Los Angeles County chief medical examiner. On August 28, 2009, the Los Angeles County coroner classified Jackson's death as a homicide, attributing it to acute propofol intoxication exacerbated by the anti-anxiety drug lorazepam, and to a lesser extent midazolam, diazepam, lidocaine, and ephedrine. The autopsy found Jackson otherwise healthy for his age with a strong heart.

The case was investigated jointly by the Los Angeles Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration, the latter examining prescription drug trails among multiple doctors who had treated Jackson. Police considered but did not bring homicide charges against other physicians who had supplied drugs to Jackson. Investigators grew increasingly focused on Conrad Murray, searching his medical office and storage unit in Houston in July 2009 and his home, office, and an associated pharmacy in Las Vegas.

On February 8, 2010, Murray was charged with involuntary manslaughter by Los Angeles prosecutors; he pleaded not guilty. Following a preliminary hearing in January 2011 that ordered him to stand trial, a jury trial began on September 27, 2011. On November 7, 2011, Murray was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter, and on November 29, 2011, he was sentenced to the maximum four years in prison. He was released on October 28, 2013, after serving two years, due to prison overcrowding and credit for good behavior.

Jackson's death prompted worldwide expressions of grief, record-breaking internet traffic, a surge in sales of his music, and a televised memorial at the Staples Center in Los Angeles attended by an estimated 2.5 billion viewers. Jackson was buried at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Glendale, California, on September 3, 2009. Separately, Jackson's family pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against Murray, which was dropped in 2012, and a negligent-hiring lawsuit against concert promoter AEG, in which a 2013 jury found in AEG's favor.