Saoirse Kennedy Hill's Cause of Death Revealed

Saoirse Kennedy Hill, the granddaughter of Ethel Kennedy and the late Robert F. Kennedy, died in August.

By Corinne Heller Nov 01, 2019 4:33 PMTags
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The late Robert F. Kennedy's granddaughter Saoirse Kennedy Hill, who passed away this summer, died of a drug overdose, Massachusetts officials have determined.

The 22-year-old socialite was found unresponsive at at the Kennedy family's compound in Hyannis Port on August 1 and was then rushed to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead. Saoirse, the only daughter of Courtney Kennedy Hill and Paul Hill and the granddaughter of 91-year-old family matriarch Ethel Kennedy, had methadone (a narcotic pain reliever), fluoxetine (the antidepressant Prozac), norfluoxetine, diazepam (the anti-anxiety drug Valium), nordiazepam and alcohol in her system when she died, the Barnstable Town Clerk's office confirmed to E! News on Friday.

After Soairse's death, a 2016 op-ed she penned for her high school student newspaper made headlines. In the piece, titled "Mental Illness at Deerfield," she opened up about suffering from depression. She also revealed that she was the victim of sexual misconduct and that she attempted suicide.

"Although I was mostly a happy child, I suffered bouts of deep sadness that felt like a heavy boulder on my chest," she wrote. "These bouts would come and go, but they did not outwardly affect me until I was a new sophomore at Deerfield."

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Saoirse was laid to rest at a private funeral at Our Lady of Victory Church in Centerville, Mass. on August 5.

"Our hearts are shattered by the loss of our beloved Saoirse," her family said in a statement after she passed away. "Her life was filled with hope, promise and love. She cared deeply about friends and family, especially her mother Courtney, her father Paul, her stepmother Stephanie, and her grandmother Ethel, who said, 'The world is a little less beautiful today.'"

—Reporting by Jessica Finn