The tragic and untimely death of world champion sprinter Tori Bowie last month took a devastating turn on Monday when it emerged from multiple reports that she had died from complications of childbirth. Bowie was found dead on May 2 at her Winter Garden, Florida, home when Orange County Sheriff's deputies were running a welfare check.
According to TMZ, the autopsy report stated that she had been about eight months pregnant and was "undergoing labor" at the time of her death. It was earlier reported that Bowie was eight months pregnant at the time of her death, which has now been confirmed in the coroner's report.
Too Painful to Bear
According to USA Today, the report also mentioned that there was a "well-developed fetus" and that respiratory distress and eclampsia were potential issues Bowie had been dealing with.
According to Cleveland Clinic, the latter is a type of seizure that can affect pregnant women and present with symptoms like high blood pressure, headaches, blurred vision, and convulsions.
Bowie's family reportedly started to worry after they didn't hear from her for a few days. after the Orange County Sheriff's Office officers went to check on her well-being, they found her dead in her bed.
Bowie's untimely passing came as a shock to the track and field community.
During the time of her death, there were reports that the former track and field star also had a long history of erratic and troubled behavior, according to her friends and neighbors living beside her Winter Garden, a smart Orlando suburb.
One person remembered seeing 32-year-old Bowie on the street yelling at a lover while holding a knife, DailyMail.com reported.
"I came out of my house one time, and she was standing there in the street clutching a knife and shouting at a man," next-door neighbor Zehra Ugurlu, 52, told the DailyMail.com.
"A family friend of mine managed to talk to her and calm her down but it was scary, it made my daughters uncomfortable.
"Her life was erratic and unhealthy but I'm very sorry about what happened to her. She was so young. Why didn't her friends help her?"
According to court documents viewed by DailyMail.com, Bowie's $500,000 home has been on the verge of being repossessed for the past two years because she owed her homeowners' association more than $22,000.
Locals began to wonder if squatters had moved into the two-bedroom house because the garage door had been left wide open for the previous three months and the front door and windows were routinely left ajar.
Drying laundry was occasionally seen stretched over the front balcony railing.
"We've heard shouting and screaming, loud music in the middle of the night. But what shocked me was that she appeared to have gotten much better lately," another neighbor said.
"Having a baby seemed like it had made her happier. That's what makes it so sad – we are talking about two lost lives.
"It goes to show that you can have fame, success, everything in the world but it won't fix what's going wrong on the inside. She had personal demons but she was a good person."
According to Orange County Court Records, Bowie has also accrued 16 traffic offenses since 2019.
Unacceptable Death
Bowie, 32, took home three medals from the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics, including gold for the US 4100 women's relay team.
She became the fastest woman in the world when she won the 100-meter dash at the 2017 IAAF World Championships in London.
At the time of her passing away, her agent Icon Management Inc. posted on Twitter: "We've lost a client, dear friend, daughter and sister. Tori was a champion...a beacon of light that shined so bright! We're truly heartbroken and our prayers are with the family and friends."
Additionally, some of the biggest names in sports, such as Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, Noah Lyles, and Sha'Carri Richardson, posted condolences on social media.
In response to her management company's announcement on Twitter, Lyles, a three-time world champion and US record holder, took the lead in the reactions to Bowie's demise.
"I can't believe this. I had just heard word of her going to be with her sister back home and now this. This breaks my heart to hear and I will keep the family in my prayers," Lyles wrote.
Another of Bowie's competitors, Jamaican Olympic champion Fraser-Pryce also paid tribute, tweeting, "My heart breaks for the family of Tori Bowie. A great competitor and source of light. Your energy and smile will always be with me. Rest in peace."
"I'm so heartbroken over this...You have made a lot of us proud thank you for representing our state of Mississippi like you did... RIP!" American long jumper Brittney Reese wrote.
Tianna Bartoletta, a member of Bowie's gold-winning 4x100m relay team in Rio, tweeted a heartbreak emoji along with a photo of herself sprinting to hug Bowie.
