Autopsy Reveals Claremont Teen Died Of Multiple Heart Conditions, Not COVID-19
CLAREMONT (CBSLA) -- A Claremont teen who died in July after experiencing coronavirus-like symptoms did not fall ill to the virus, officials confirmed Wednesday.
Maxx Cheng, 13, passed away in his home on July 16 while isolating in his room due to symptoms that his family thought may have been related to COVID-19.
An autopsy report released Wednesday revealed that the teenager died of multiple heart conditions and did not have COVID-19.
Maxx's older sister, Charlotte, said her brother began to feel sick on the Fourth of July.
"Nausea, vomiting, chest pains," she said. "That list that pops up, a little bit, on that initial search, he had all of those symptoms."
On July 9, Maxx's mother took him to get tested for COVID-19. That test came back negative.
"His symptoms matched, but then the test came out negative," Cheng said. "So we were a little bit confused."
Despite the test result, Maxx continued to isolate in his bedroom due to his ongoing symptoms.
"We went to go check up on him, like we normally do," Cheng said. "He wasn't answering. We found him passed out in the room."
Maxx died on the night of July 16, after seemingly starting to recover.
"There was almost no cough," Cheng said. "The fever had gone down three days before he passed."