Resorts World Death of Comedian Donny Davis Linked to Fentanyl, Alcohol

Posted on: April 29, 2022, 04:46h. 

Last updated on: April 29, 2022, 12:47h.

Ed Silverstein @casinoorgedsilv Read More
Expertise: Legal, Tribal Gaming.

Comedian Donny Davis died from ethanol (alcohol) and fentanyl intoxication, the Clark County Coroner’s office announced this week following an autopsy. His Feb. 22 Las Vegas death was also ruled an accident.

Britney Spears gives a kiss to Donny Davis
Britney Spears gives a kiss to Donny Davis in this undated photo. The two performed together. Davis died in February. An autopsy concluded he died from ethanol (alcohol) and fentanyl intoxication. (Image: New York Post)

Las Vegas Metro police told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Thursday the investigation remains open into the circumstances surrounding his death. No arrests had been made. It remains unclear how he was able to consume fentanyl, which is a highly potent pain killer.

Davis, 43, had been staying at the Conrad Las Vegas at Resorts World on the Las Vegas Strip and became ill in his hotel room after a night of drinking.

Initially, Metro police launched an investigation into criminal wrongdoing connected to the death. Firefighters “thought there might be foul play due to the number of other subjects in the room and having trouble getting any information from them,” a police report said.

The events that night were summed up in a Metro police report, quoted by KVVU, a local TV station. At about midnight, Davis joined with other patrons at Dawg House. That is a bar in Resorts World.

Davis then went to the Flamingo. He returned to the Dawg house at about 2:30 am. Davis tried to get more drinks, but a bartender refused to serve him any more alcohol because he appeared too intoxicated.

Turned Blue, Stopped Breathing

At about 3:30 am, Davis went up to his hotel room. When at least four friends arrived at about 5 am, Davis was seated in a chair. His hands “looked pale and pink instead of his normal light brown color,” according to the police report. Then his hands turned purple, and he may have stopped breathing.

His hands and jaw appeared “frozen,” witnesses later told police. He was turning blue and also biting his tongue. The friends called Resorts World security officers at about 5:30 am.

The officers gave him chest compressions. Then Clark County firefighters arrived at the hotel room and began treating Davis.

He was transported to Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center at about 6:15 am. By 6:36 am, he was declared dead by hospital physicians.

Fixture in Las Vegas Entertainment

Davis, who lived in Los Angles, was 4-feet, 2-inches tall, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He was well-known among major celebrities. He also was a fixture in the Las Vegas entertainment scene in past years.

Jeff Beacher booked Davis at Beacher’s Madhouse, a vaudeville-inspired show. It was held at the Hard Rock Hotel between 2005 and 2008. It was later at the MGM Grand between 2013 and 2015. Davis had diverse roles in the act, the Review-Journal recalled. He was fired out of a prop cannon, played a leprechaun, The Joker, and a pro wrestler, the report said.

Britney Spears also booked him in her show “Piece of Me” at the former Axis Theater — now known as the Zappos Theater — at Planet Hollywood between 2013 and 2017, the report adds. Davis toured with singer Joe Jonas, too.

“He was a dear dear friend and I’m devastated by his passing,” Larry Rudolph, Spears’ former manager, told the newspaper in February. “I loved him and so did Britney…”