Former ‘Real Housewives’ Star’s Son’s Heartbreaking Cause of Death Revealed

Heavy/NBCUniversal "Real Housewives" update.

The cause of death of former “Real Housewives of Orange County” star Lauri Peterson’s son has been revealed nearly five months after he died.

According to TMZ, the former Bravo star’s son, Joshua Waring, died in March  2024 from “the combined effects of fentanyl, methamphetamine, and olanzapine.”

Waring was 35 years old when he died on Easter Sunday, 2024. The death was ruled was officially ruled as “accidental” by the Orange County Sheriff-Coroner Department.

Josh Waring’s Mom & Sister Previously Hinted That His Death Was Drug-Related

Peterson announced the sudden death of her son in an  Instagram post on April 6, 2024, “It is with a shattered heart that I write this post to let you know that my sweet Josh left this earth Easter Sunday,” the original RHOC star wrote at the time.

“Josh fought every single day for most of his adult life, for his life, but this past Sunday, the challenge was too great,” Peterson wrote. While she did not share the circumstances surrounding her son’s death, Peterson wrote that her son suffered from “substance abuse disorder.”

“No one can ever prepare you for this feeling of such deep loss,” the grieving mother captioned the slideshow of family photos of her son.

Waring’s sister Ashley Zarlin also posted a remembrance of Waring and hinted that his struggles with addiction played a role in his death. “I lost my brother to the relentless grip of addiction,” Zarlin captioned a childhood photo of her late brother in April. “It’s a disease that distorts and destroys, leaving behind shattered dreams and broken hearts. He was brilliant and had limitless potential, but addiction veered him off course.”

In an update posted by TMZ two days after Peterson and Zarlin’s posts, law enforcement officials confirmed Waring was found dead in a motel room with drug paraphernalia nearby and that the death was being investigated as a possible drug overdose. According to the Ocean County Register, Waring’s death took place in Garden Grove, California.

Josh Waring’s Troubled Life Was Seen on RHOC

PeacockLauri Peterson’s RHOC intro.

Peterson starred in the first four seasons of “The Real Housewives of Orange County” when her son was a teenager. She made appearances as a “guest” through season 8 before leaving the franchise for good to focus on her family.

When he was a teen, Waring’s legal issues led him to a juvenile detention center while his mom was a cast member of RHOC. As an adult, he was arrested on attempted murder charges in 2016 amid a shooting at a sober living house, People magazine reported. In September 2022, Waring pleaded guilty to drug charges and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the Los Angeles Times.

“Josh gets arrested frequently,” Peterson told Page Six in 2016. “If he is under the influence of drugs and if he’s using drugs at the time, I’m never going to help him out legally. However, [adopting Josh’s daughter] has been life-altering, it has changed our whole entire lives. My contribution to Josh has always been I will always get you rehabs and do whatever I can do to help you medically beat this addiction and I will raise your daughter.”

Peterson adopted her son’s daughter, Kennady, in 2015 and continues to raise her today.

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