NYPD Seeks Man In Connection With Death Of Reality Star Lyric McHenry

The NYPD is seeking out a person of interest in the death of 26-year-old Lyric McHenry, the reality TV star and daughter of a Hollywood producer last seen alive leaving a Manhattan nightclub on Aug. 14.

McHenry had been out with friends celebrating her birthday. She shared social media posts of her and friends at nightclubs in Manhattan through the night of Aug. 13 and into the next morning. But at 5:00 a.m. police found her lying unconscious on a Bronx sidewalk, partly clothed, a bag of cocaine nearby, according to the New York Times.  

Paramedics transported her to Bronx Lebanon Hospital, where she was pronounced dead. There were no obvious signs of trauma on McHenry’s body and the Medical Examiner’s officer has yet to determine a cause of death, police say. Their investigation is ongoing.  

McHenry is the daughter of a Hollywood producer, and starred in Magic Johnson’s son's reality TV series, “EJNYC.” She also worked as a producer on a short 2016 film, “Downpour Summer,” and as a journalist at “Refinery 29,” a news and culture blog.

The NYPD released video on Monday capturing a man walking near where McHenry was found, and they asked in a news release for the public's assistance identifying the man. He's “wanted for questioning," police said. 

The release of the video and the request for assistance comes after the Daily Mail reported on Wednesday that a friend who last saw McHenry alive said she left nightclub with a man from the Bronx who McHenry was casually dating, and who friends believed may have been a drug dealer. McHenry left with the man, her friend said, because doormen at the club wouldn’t let him in.

A spokesperson for McHenry's family confirmed the account, issuing a statement that "A friend said she went downstairs to get somebody in, because they weren't letting that person in. Lyric goes to the car and she gets in with whoever it was. That's the last they saw or heard from her that night. The friends didn't get a look at this person. And Lyric just went downstairs, she didn't say who it was."

McHenry was 15 to 20 weeks pregnant, the spokesperson said, adding that friends and family were not aware.

A private memorial for McHenry was held last Sunday in Los Angeles, according to the New York Daily News. Her father, Doug McHenry, a film and TV director and producer, gave the eulogy.

A family friend who attended told the News "He talked about how proud he was to watch his daughter on her journey as a producer of film and TV. I remember him saying it broke his heart to know that her dream has been taken away due to this tragedy.”

Anyone with information in regards to the unidentified individual is asked to call the NYPD's Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782). The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime stoppers website at WWW.NYPDCRIMESTOPPERS.COM or by texting their tips to 274637 (CRIMES) then enter TIP577.

[Photo: NYPD; McHenry, Instagram].