Anna Nicole Smith's Death: Her Sudden Passing and Its Aftermath

Anna Nicole Smith faced her fair share of struggles throughout her life — but her final months were truly tragic.

The model and actress, née Vickie Lynn Hogan, made a name for herself in Hollywood despite her humble beginnings. As a high school dropout, she worked at a fast food restaurant, got married and welcomed her son, Daniel, all while she was still a teenager. After divorcing her first husband, Smith began working as a stripper and met 89-year-old billionaire J. Howard Marshall.

The pair got married just as Smith’s modeling career was taking off, and she was named Playboy’s Playmate of the Year in 1993. But Marshall’s death 13 months after their nuptials took a toll on Smith, leading to a decades-long legal battle over his estate. Throughout the litigation, Smith continued to rise to fame, locking in modeling contracts with Guess and H&M and even landing several movie roles.

But amid her success, Smith also reportedly struggled behind the scenes with health issues, including "chronic back pain" as a result of a breast enhancement surgery and seizures, the model's former partner, Larry Birkhead, said in 2017. She began taking prescription drugs to cope with the pain and eventually began self-medicating with potentially dangerous combinations of those drugs. When Smith learned that she was pregnant in 2006, she attempted to quit "cold turkey" and checked into rehab — but her stay only lasted a week.

In September 2006, Smith gave birth to her daughter Dannielynn Hope but a time that was supposed to be joyful was marred by tragedy when her 20-year-old son Daniel suddenly died just three days later. Daniel’s passing led to a dark time for Smith, who spiraled into a depression and a haze of prescription drugs. On Feb. 8, 2007, Smith died of an accidental overdose.

"You’ve got to think: My daughter was born on Sept. 7 and on Sept. 10, Daniel died. So you go from that extreme high and low, and how do you process that in your mind?" said Birkhead, who is also Dannielynn's father. "Although her death certificate will list a different cause — an accidental overdose — in my mind, I think she truly died of a broken heart."

So what happened to Anna Nicole Smith? Here are all the details of her unexpected death in 2007.

How did Anna Nicole Smith die?

Smith’s death was ruled "an accidental overdose with no other criminal element present" by the Seminole Police Department in Florida. According to the coroner's toxicology report, Smith was fighting a bacterial infection and the flu at the time of her death, and her system contained multiple different substances, including methadone and Valium.

While those two drugs were found to be at "therapeutic levels," Smith had also ingested sleeping medication chloral hydrate, a rarely prescribed sedative used to treat insomnia and alcohol withdrawal, relieve anxiety and ease post-surgery pain. The drug is known to be fatal if combined with certain other medications such as the sedative Lorazepam, which was also found in Smith’s system during her autopsy. In an investigation into her death in the years that followed, Smith’s security guard Maurice Brighthaupt alleged that he often watched her slurp chloral hydrate from a bottle.

Although Smith’s tragic death was said to be accidental and without "any foul play," the months leading up to her death were marked by many personal hardships and questionable decisions by the people closest to her.

In September 2006, Smith had given birth to her daughter Dannielynn, and just three days later, her 20-year-old son Daniel suddenly died while visiting Smith in her hospital room. His unexpected death was incredibly tough on the model, and at his funeral, Smith reportedly attempted to climb into her son’s coffin. In a later court battle for custody of Smith’s body, her then-partner Howard K. Stern said he believed "emotionally, she died when Daniel died."

On top of that, Smith also found herself in the middle of a court battle to determine Dannielynn’s paternity.

In the months that followed her son's death, Smith was medically treated for various health issues by psychiatrist Dr. Khristine Eroshevich and internist Dr. Sandeep Kapoor. She was prescribed numerous medications, despite already struggling with addiction. Search warrant affidavits from the investigation into Smith's death stated that Smith's former nannies told investigators they witnessed Stern and Eroshevich crush up and heat some of those drugs in order to "turn them into liquid and inject Smith." One of those nannies, Quethlie Alexie, later testified that the medications left Smith "unable to walk" and "unable to handle her talking."

Attorneys for Stern and Eroshevich said they planned to show that the accusations were false at trial.

"I don’t think anyone can say that Howard K. Stern didn’t love Anna and didn’t attempt, in his way, to do the best thing for her," said Stern's lawyer.

When did Anna Nicole Smith die?

After being found unresponsive in a hotel room, Smith was rushed to Memorial Regional Hospital and pronounced dead on arrival by staff at 2:49 p.m. on Feb. 8, 2007.

Where did Anna Nicole Smith die?

Smith had spent much of the final months of her life living in the Bahamas but had traveled to Hollywood, Fla., with Stern in February 2007. The couple stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino, where she was a frequent guest. Several days into their trip, Smith was found unresponsive and blue by her private nurse, Tasma Brighthaupt, who happened to be the wife of her bodyguard. Smith’s bodyguard and Stern were then alerted, and she was rushed to the nearby Memorial Regional Hospital where she was pronounced dead.

How old was Anna Nicole Smith when she died?

Smith was 39 years old at the time of her death.

What were Anna Nicole Smith’s last words?

The final days of Smith’s life were reportedly spent in a haze, still grieving the loss of her son, Daniel. In an interview with Entertainment Tonight conducted just 10 days before her death, Smith mourned Daniel — revealing that she often saw him in her dreams and felt that he was calling her to be with him.

"I dream of him every day and every night. He comes to me in my sleep ... It’s like he’s calling me to come to him," she shared with the outlet (via CBS News).

By the time Smith arrived in Florida, it was clear that she was struggling. A witness told PEOPLE that Smith had "seemed a little woozy" upon checking in at the hotel. Although she was walking straight, she was "being held up by Howard." Over the next few days, a hotel employee assigned to act as Smith’s personal assistant was told Smith had the flu — but when the hotel dispatched a local doctor to help treat her, they were turned away out of concern for Smith’s privacy.

In the days leading up to Smith’s death, she was secluded in her hotel room, attempting to recover from her fever and flu-like symptoms. According to the Broward County medical examiner's office, per CBS News, she was found sitting naked and confused in a dry bathtub at one point. On the morning of her death, Stern said Smith woke early and complained to him about her fatigue. By 1 p.m., her private nurse found her unresponsive.

Where is Anna Nicole Smith buried?

Following Smith’s death, several parties fought over who would control her body and where it would be buried. While Smith’s estranged mother Virgie Arthur wanted to bury her daughter in her home state of Texas, Stern believed that Smith wanted to be buried alongside her son Daniel in the Bahamas. Meanwhile, lawyers for Birkhead, who was in an ongoing custody battle revolving around Smith’s daughter Dannielynn, wanted additional DNA testing to be done before Smith was buried.

Almost a week after her death, a judge finally ruled that Smith’s body could be released, but it wasn’t until Feb. 28 that it was ruled who would get to decide where Smith would be buried. That power was given to Richard Milstein, a court-appointed attorney who was representing Smith’s then 5-month-old daughter, Dannielynn.

On March 2, Smith was laid to rest in a burial plot beside her late son at Lakeview Memorial Gardens & Mausoleum in the Bahamas. Arthur attempted to regain control of Smith’s body in the moments before the funeral began, filing an emergency legal motion in the Bahamas courts trying to halt the burial. She was unsuccessful and the pink-themed funeral went on as scheduled. It was attended by both Stern and Birkhead, as well as some of Smith’s famous friends like Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash.

What happened during the investigation into Anna Nicole Smith’s death?

The circumstances surrounding Smith’s death eventually led to a secondary investigation into her passing. In March 2009, Stern, Eroshevich and Kapoor were all arrested for allegedly giving Smith thousands of prescription pills before her death — and acquiring some of those medications illegally. When the case went to trial in August 2010, the group pled not guilty to several felony charges, including unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance to an addict, obtaining a prescription by deceit, fraud and conspiracy.

Over the course of the trial, Stern was accused of helping Smith get drugs in illegal ways while Kapoor and Eroshevich were alleged to have "prescribed powerful and addictive medications without treating the underlying" addiction. Eroshevich’s team maintained that the drugs were legally prescribed to Smith for medical purposes. Meanwhile, Stern’s lawyer said his client was unaware he was breaking any laws by getting drugs for Smith under his name or made-up names — and simply "wanted to take care of Smith, especially after her son Daniel’s death the previous year pushed her into a deep depression."

Testimonies included Smith’s former nannies, her security guard, a psychiatrist who treated Smith during a brief rehab stay and a pharmacist who had refused to fill Eroshevich’s prescriptions. In October 2010, a jury found Stern guilty of two counts of conspiracy for fueling Smith’s prescription drug problem while Eroshevich was convicted of four charges. Kapoor was cleared of all counts.

However, just a few months later, a Los Angeles judge dismissed the felony charges against Stern, ruling that there was no evidence he intended fraud or deception when he got drugs for Smith under false names. He also dismissed the two conspiracy charges against Eroshevich and rejected a charge against her of unlawfully prescribing a controlled substance. He additionally reduced a fraud charge to a misdemeanor and sentenced Eroshevich to a year of probation.

How did Anna Nicole Smith's loved ones react to her death?

Following Smith’s sudden death, many of her friends spoke out about it. While many expressed shock about the news, others lamented the difficult experiences she had endured throughout the previous few months.

Paul Marciano, the CEO of Guess Inc., shared that she "did not survive the loss of her son Daniel, who was the love of her life." Playboy founder Hugh Hefner also said he was "very saddened" to learn about her death.

"She was a dear friend who meant a great deal to the Playboy family and to me personally. My thoughts and prayers are with her friends and loved ones during this difficult time," Hefner said in a statement.

What legacy did Anna Nicole Smith leave behind?

Smith has remained a prominent figure in pop culture history, even more than a decade after her death. Numerous films and documentaries have reflected on Smith’s life, including Netflix's documentary Anna Nicole Smith: You Don’t Know Me.

"She inspired a lot of people. I think she changed a lot of lives," Birkhead said during a February 2021 appearance on 20/20. "That's why I think, to this day, there's still a fascination about Anna Nicole, and I think there will be for a long time."

Beyond the entertainment industry, Smith’s legacy also lives on through her daughter, Dannielynn. The teenager bears a striking resemblance to her late mother and at times, has even worn her clothing. Birkhead says that the pair often discuss Smith and every year they attend the Kentucky Derby — where Birkhead and Smith first met.

"It's funny how one event can change your life. And that's what this party did for me. If I had not been there that night and had that connection, how different my life would have been if I hadn't met Anna and had our daughter," Birkhead told PEOPLE.

When Dannielynn turned 17 on Sept. 7, 2023, Birkhead posted a birthday tribute on Instagram with the caption: "Happy 17th Birthday Dannielynn! I am so proud of you in each and every way. Wishing you the best day ever ! You are funny, crazy smart, pretty and just about everything I could ever imagine. Your Mom would be so proud of you, I sure am. Happy Birthday! Love Dad ❤️."