Marion Christopher Barry, son of late DC mayor, dies from apparent overdose

Marion Christopher Barry (Fox 5 DC)

Marion Christopher Barry, the son of the late Washington D.C. mayor Marion Barry, died early Sunday, authorities said. He was 36.

The Washington Post reported that Barry died from a drug overdose, but officials have not confirmed the cause of his death. A police report said that Barry had stepped out to smoke the synthetic drug K-2 along with PCP. Barry returned to his home and “suddenly dropped.”

According to the paper, Barry was found unconscious by his girlfriend and was taken to George Washington University Hospital. He was pronounced dead around 2 a.m.

Barry’s friends told The Post that he had struggled with drugs in the past. Barry failed to win a seat in the Ward 8 Council last year after his father had died.

“My heart is broken,” Barry’s stepmother Cora Masters Barry said in a statement. “I am in shock. The news of his death is beyond comprehension.”

Barry’s campaign manager Liz Matory said that he was planning his next move coming off the loss. She said he was still dealing with the loss of his father and a close friend, A.J. Cooper, who died in 2014. Friends said Barry was coming to a crossroads in his life and was feeling alone.

Barry was in the middle of a move to a new apartment, according to The Post. He and a friend had rented a moving truck and gathered his belongings to move to the new place. However, the landlord of the new apartment said at the last minute he didn’t want any new tenants.

"There’s so many things that are broken. There’s so much stress on his mind and spirit,” Matory said. “By losing the house, he felt another loss because that was his place that he’d go to remember his dad.”

Barry recently lost the home of his late father because he couldn’t keep up with the house payments.

Barry is survived by his grandmother Polly Lee Harris.

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