Marco Troper, the 19-year-old son of former YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki, died Tuesday inside the Clark Kerr Campus dorm at the University of California, Berkeley.
No foul play is suspected in Troper’s death.
Troper’s grandmother, Esther Wojcicki, told SFGATE that she believes her grandson died of a drug overdose. “He ingested a drug, and we don’t know what was in it,” Wojcicki said, adding, “One thing we do know, it was a drug.”
It could take up to 30 days to confirm the results of a toxicology report.
Troper was a freshman math major in his second semester at UC Berkeley and a member of the Zeta Psi fraternity, the New York Post reported.
The Post reported that Troper was found unresponsive in a campus dormitory around 4:23 p.m. on Tuesday and that emergency attempts to resuscitate him were unsuccessful.
“Berkeley Fire Department notified UCPD that they were attempting life-saving measures on the victim,” the University of California Police Department said in a statement. “UCPD responded, and Berkeley Fire Department pronounced the person deceased.”
Troper’s grandmother said her family wants to prevent this sort of tragedy from happening to any other families.
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In a Facebook post, Wojcicki wrote, “Marco’s life was cut too short. And we are all devastated, thinking about all the opportunities and life experiences that he will miss and we will miss together. Marco, we all love you and miss you more than you will ever know.”
Regarding her grandson she said, “Marco was the most kind, loving, smart, fun and beautiful human being.”
Esther Wojcicki is author of the 2019 bestseller, “How to Raise Successful People” and is sometimes referred to as the “Godmother of Silicon Valley.”
Troper’s mother, Susan Wojcicki, became the 16th employee to join Google and was chosen to lead YouTube. Her spouse, Marco’s father Dennis Troper, holds an executive position at Google.
She resigned from her position at YouTube in February 2023 to “start a new chapter focused on my family, health, and personal projects.”
Marco Troper leaves behind four siblings.
Overdose deaths in the United States surpassed 100,000 in 2021 for the first time in recorded history.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention there were over 100,306 drug overdose deaths in the United States between April 2020 and April 2021. This marked a significant increase from previous years.
Although data is not yet fully available for the number of drug-related overdose deaths in 2023, there is a sharp and alarming rise in fentanyl addiction and drug-related overdoses throughout America.
Numerous schools throughout California are beginning to confront the fentanyl crisis, with officials hastily implementing measures such as incorporating discussions of the lethal substance into health education classes and equipping administrative offices with Narcan, an overdose-reversal medication.
Sadly, tragic events have often been the catalyst for these districts to take action.
