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YouTuber Desmond 'Etika' Amofah confirmed dead at 29 by NYPD

NYPD has confirmed that popular YouTuber Etika is dead at the age of 29.

Asif Khan

June 25, 2019 10:25 AM

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The gaming community mourns the loss of Desmond "Etika" Amofah as the NYPD has confirmed the popular YouTuber is dead at the age of 29. Things were starting to look very grim after his Switch and belongings were discovered on the Manhattan Bridge. The young man had posted an apparent suicide message to YouTube just last week.

Etika has released a new video on YouTube that was scheduled for upload at midnight titled 'I'm sorry', with its contents and the description of the video reading as a suicide note

here is the beginning in case it's removedhttps://t.co/1z9xkJQwl6 pic.twitter.com/cJZ4m5aXu8

— Rod Breslau (@Slasher) June 20, 2019

The New York City Police Department spent the last week searching for Etika, only finding his drivers license, phone, Nintendo Switch, and laptop bag near the Manhattan Bridge on Wednesday before confirming the horrible news today. Etika had been troubled for the past year. Most recently, he was detained by a NYPD swat team during an Instagram live stream from his apartment. He had also blocked most of his friends on social media, and had been ignoring any communication following the post of his final YouTube video.

Etika's career as a content creator on YouTube and Twitch was full of ups and downs, but he was known for his reaction videos. He spread a lot of joy with his enthusiasm for Super Smash Bros. and all sorts of other video games. 

Today's news is truly a sad and tragic ending to his short life. No 29-year-old should feel that there is no way out of life other than suicide. We hope that Etika's passing will create an opportunity for gaming personalities to really talk about mental health and the pressures of personality-driven content. Etika became larger-than-life in a lot of ways over the past few years, and that pressure appeared to be too much. It is just sad that he felt his mistakes were not fixable. Rest in peace, Desmond. We hope your soul will find peace.

Asif Khan

CEO/EIC/EIEIO

Asif Khan is the CEO, EIC, and majority shareholder of Shacknews. He began his career in video game journalism as a freelancer in 2001 for Tendobox.com. Asif is a CPA and was formerly an investment adviser representative. After much success in his own personal investments, he retired from his day job in financial services and is currently focused on new private investments. His favorite PC game of all time is Duke Nukem 3D, and he is an unapologetic fan of most things Nintendo. Asif first frequented the Shack when it was sCary's Shugashack to find all things Quake. When he is not immersed in investments or gaming he is a purveyor of fine electronic music. Asif also has an irrational love of Cleveland sports.