By Nina Mandell
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MANHATTAN — Andrew Koppel, legendary newscaster Ted Koppel's son, was killed by a combination of alcohol, heroin, cocaine, Valium, and chemicals associated with cocaine in what was ruled an accidental death by the city medical examiner's office.
The 40-year-old son of the famed newsman died on June 1 after what was described as a 12-hour drinking binge. He left behind a pregnant girlfriend and 2-year-old son.
Witnesses told DNAinfo that on the day of his death Andrew Koppel had been brought to an apartment in Washington Heights by a 32-year-old waiter he had met earlier that day.
“He was just really messed up,” Belinda Caban told DNAinfo at the time. “I just thought he was high out of his mind, drunk out of his mind.”
In a statement following their son’s death, Ted Koppel and his wife, Grace, expressed the devastation of losing their son.
“Our son, Andrew, was a brilliant, caring man, whose loss we will mourn for the rest of our lives,” the couple said in a statement.
Andrew Koppel had worked as an attorney for the Housing Authority.
