KTLA News anchor Chris Burrous, who was found unresponsive in a Glendale motel room in December, died from methamphetamine toxicity, the Los Angeles County coroner’s office said Friday.

The coroner said hypertensive and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease were also factors in his death.

The coroner’s investigative report said Burrous was taking methamphetamine during a sexual encounter at the motel, including inserting the drug into his rectum.

The other person in the motel room, a man the coroner said Burrous met on a dating site, performed CPR on him before paramedics arrived, the report said.


On Dec. 27, police were called to a room at the Days Inn, where they found Burrous, 43, not breathing, the Glendale Police Department said. Paramedics took him to a hospital, where he died.

His death stunned fans and colleagues at KTLA.

Burrous earned a broadcast journalism degree from Chapman University, and joined KTLA in 2011 after 14 years as a reporter and anchor at news stations across the country, mostly in the Central Valley.

Burrous helped expand “Morning News” to a seven-day program, anchoring weekends and covering breaking news on weekday mornings, the station said.