Desmond “Etika” Amofah Dead at 29
The New York Police Department has confirmed popular YouTuber Desmond Amofah, known as Etika, has been found dead. Two days after finding his belongings on the Manhattan bridge, NYPD found Amofah, 29, in Manhattan’s East River.
We regret to inform that Desmond Amofah aka Etika has been found deceased. https://t.co/sedwZZxglw
— NYPD NEWS (@NYPDnews) June 25, 2019
NYPD reached out to Kotaku with the following comment:
“At approximately 18:18 hours [yesterday], police responded to a 9-11 call with a person floating in the water in the vicinity of the South Street Seaport in the confines of the 1st Precinct. Upon arrival, officers discovered an unresponsive, unidentified male at that location. The NYPD harbor removed the male to Pier 16, where EMS pronounced him deceased. The medical examiner will determine the cause of death and the investigation is ongoing.”
Amofah was born in Brooklyn and began his YouTube career in 2012. Over seven years of playing Nintendo games and reacting to announcements, Amofah amassed hundreds of thousands of fans he called JoyCon Boyz.
Amofah had been struggling with mental health since October when he began to self destruct his YouTube channel. Several incidents made his family and fans concerned for the YouTuber. Amofah posted tweets in April that caused concern, and had a standoff with NYPD which he live-streamed to his Instagram.
Amofah’s final YouTube video seemed to be a goodbye to his fans. Amofah’s family was unable to contact him before he posted the video. YouTube removed the video for breaking community guidelines, but other YouTubers have reposted the video. Fans are asking YouTube to re-upload Amofah’s final video for suicide awareness.
If you are struggling with mental health, please reach out to someone you know or call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255. If you notice someone in your life struggling with mental health or you are concerned that they might be – please talk to them.
