The New York City Police Department confirmed 29-year old Desmond "Etika" Amofah's death earlier this week. The police department has now revealed his cause of death after locating his body in the East River near New York City's South Street Seaport. The Nintendo YouTuber had gained popularity over the past few years by posting his reactions to new products and games from the company. Over the past several months, Amofah's mental health had come into question and he recently posted and deleted a video expressing suicidal thoughts.

The NYPD has officially declared Desmond "Etika" Amofah's death as a suicide by drowning. Police found his belongings on the Manhattan Bridge last weekend, but did not find his body until days later. Amofah had exhibited erratic behavior over the past ten months and had a few brushes with the law over suicide attempts. The 29-year old deleted all of his YouTube videos back in October of 2018, which was the first of many signs that something was wrong with Amofah.

After deleting the videos, Desmond "Etika" Amofah posted a suicidal message on the platform, which is a violation. He also posted a suicidal message on Reddit. YouTube later banned his account after he posted pornographic material on his channel, which is a clear violation. It's at this time Amofah's ex-girlfriend revealed that he had checked himself into a mental health facility. All of Amofah's social media accounts went dark at the same time. A few weeks after the mental hospital stay, Amofah was hospitalized for attempting to kill himself.

A few weeks after the hospitalization Desmond "Etika" Amofah, mostly known for his Nintendo themed videos, was arrested for live-streaming an alleged threat to kill himself in his apartment. He was instantly brought to another mental health facility where he underwent psychiatric observations. He was later released on his own. After this event, his social media presence began to grow and get very dark. Moving away from his usual video games content, Amofah was posting videos of himself pointing guns at the camera, nuclear weapons, and other disturbing images. On May 1st, the YouTuber got into another altercation with authorities after claiming he was punched by a police officer for giving him the middle finger. And now, his family, friends, and followers mourn his death.

Desmond "Etika" Amofah's suicide has brought the YouTube content creators and mental health back into the news. The intense schedule of trying to stay current, create new content, and be "on" all of the time often leads to mental breaks. Some content creators say the intense schedule, paired with online trolls and negativity often worsens anxiety and depression. While a lot of Amofah's fans supported him, there were just as many who believed he was trying to get attention and further teased him. Elle Mills, Bobby Burns, Felix "PewDiePie" Kjellberg, and Kensin have all talked about their own mental health over the past few years. Desmond "Etika" Amofah's cause of death was first reported by Fox News.