The family of Cooper Noriega is speaking out for the first time following his tragic death.
As we previously reported, the 19-year-old TikTok star was found unconscious in a mall parking lot outside of Los Angeles on Thursday. When paramedics arrived at the scene, they were not able to revive him. According to law enforcement sources who spoke with TMZ, there were no signs of trauma on his body, and he was not inside a vehicle at the time. Foul play is not expected, but his cause of death remains under investigation.
This came hours after Cooper, who has been open about his struggles with mental health and addiction in the past, shared a cryptic video on TikTok about dying young, asking:
“Who else b thinking they gon d!€ [sic] young af.”
Chilling…
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Since news of his death broke, many fans and influencers have paid tribute to the model – including his ex-girlfriend and fellow TikTok personality Sabrina “Sab” Quesada, who wrote:
“the light of my life, you’re the best thing that ever happened to me. i’m so sorry my love. may we meet again.”
Now, his family members have shared heartfelt statements on social media following his passing. His sister Parker Noriega penned on Saturday alongside a picture of him smiling:
“hi everyone. on behalf of our family we want to thank you all for the kind words of our little coop. his passing is an absolute tragedy to our family and loved ones. We pray that we all as a community can continue on his legacy. He loved each and everyone of you. Please feel free to reach out to us as we love feeling all the support. Bless you all… with love, his sister.”
Their father Harold Noriega, who had just turned 66 at the time of Cooper’s death, expressed in his own tribute on Facebook Friday:
“I want to thank each of you for all of your special birthday wishes. They mean so much to me. I also want to share with you that today has been an incredibly difficult time for my family and me. We lost our beautiful 19 year old Cooper last evening. He was loved by so many and truly the love of Treva‘s, Parker’s and my life.”
He continued:
“There are no words to express the grief and loss. It’s not supposed to be this way. Your child is not supposed to pass before his parents. Cooper has touched so many people. He recently started a chat on Discord which grew to thousands for those to have a safe place to talk about mental health. My boy was a believer and I know he is in the presence of God. Thank you everyone. I love you all.”
Cooper’s mom Treva Noriega echoed similar sentiments, saying
“My heart is forever broken but your my special angel and we have each other’s hearts..I know my mom was holding her arms out bringing you to Heaven. You are finally experiencing the most pure joy and happiness. I’ll see you one day my baby boy… your momma”
We cannot imagine how this family must be feeling. He was so young…
We are sending them so much light and love during this difficult time.
[Image via Cooper Noriega/Instagram]
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