Lisa Lopes' Autopsy Report Has Some Disturbing Details

Lisa "Left Eye" Lopes, who's best known for being one-third of '90s girl band TLC, tragically died in April 2002. According to CNN, the rapper, who was 30 years old, was killed after the car she was driving collided with another car in La Ceiba, Honduras. And while there were seven other passengers present at the scene of the crash, Lopes was the only fatality. The beloved rapper's death sent shockwaves throughout the entertainment industry and beyond, not just because it forever altered the lineup of one of the best-selling girl groups in history, but because of the violent nature of her death and heartbreaking details included in the autopsy report.

According to the New York Times, Lopes was in Honduras with a group of friends for spiritual fulfillment and other leisurely activities. ”It was something very personal to her, and it was something she liked to share with people,” her publicist Jay Marose shared. ”Lisa loved to travel, loved to find new places. She loved cultures that were really, truly spiritual.” Unfortunately, her trip and life were cut short after losing control of the Mitsubishi Montero she had rented. "The cause of the accident was Ms. Lopes losing control of the car,” local policeman Luis Aguilar said of the crash, which left the car upside down and damaged. ”The car rolled over for reasons that we still don't know, and that are being investigated."

Lopes' injuries were published in subsequent reports, and they were pretty horrifying.

Lisa "Lefteye" Lopes sustained injuries during the crash that proved impossible to survive. According to an April 2002 report by BBC News, the "Scrubs" songstress' initial post-mortem exam took place in Honduras by Forensic doctor, Roland Martinez, who determined that Lopes had sustained serious chest injuries. She also had a fractured skull. According to People, Lopes, who was thrown from her vehicle during the crash, also had wounds on her head and chest. Her body was then shipped back to the United States for further testing. And while Marco Tulio Palma Rivera, police chief for the Honduran department of Atlantida, revealed that drugs and alcohol weren't a factor, he noted that Lopes was driving over the speed limit.  

Unfortunately, Lopes had her privacy grossly invaded after photos of her injured body were briefly uploaded to the internet. According to the New York Post, someone snapped photos of Lopes' corpse in the morgue and posted it online for the world to see. Naturally, Lopes' family was distraught over the unconscionable leak. "It is very distasteful," said Rob Goldstone, who worked with TLC's management company. "The family is very upset by the photo. It's horrible. There's no reason for it," he added. In 2005, the Lopes family endured more turmoil as they headed up a wrongful death lawsuit. Lopes' mother sued Mitsubishi due to the car manufacturer's failure to alert consumers about the vehicle's safety risks, including its reported rollover susceptibility, according to MTV News. 

The result of the lawsuit is unknown. 

The last few weeks of Lisa Lopes' life were filled with tragedy and eerie, unsettling spiritual experiences. Weeks before Lopes' unfortunate death, she was riding in a car driven by her assistant, Stephanie Patterson, that accidentally struck and killed a local 10-year-old boy from Honduras, according to People. The boy, Bayron Fuentes Lopes, who didn't immediately die from his injuries, shared the same surname with the singer. Upon his death, Lisa paid the family nearly $4,000 for his funeral expenses. However, they didn't involve the police. "Why should we have called the police?" asked Bayron's mother. "Lisa was an excellent person, the way she treated me and took care of my son."

As detailed in "The Last Days of Left Eye," a 2007 documentary chronicling the rapper's trip to Honduras, Lisa predicted her own death. Earlier in the documentary, Lisa confessed that she believed a spirit had been haunting her. Following the death of Bayron, the documentary's narration revealed that Lisa believed that a spirit meant to kill her had accidentally taken his life instead of her own. That same year, the doc's director, Lauren Lazin, spoke with NPR and confirmed that Lisa knew she would die young. "And a month after that conversation with her, she went to Honduras," shared Laniz. "She actually shot this footage. And a month after that, she was dead. And so that sort of always haunted me. And as you know, her own death is in the film."