Skye McCole Bartusiak — who played Mel Gibson’s daughter in the 2000 movie “The Patriot” — died from an accidental mix of pain killers and muscle relaxers … and it looks like she may also have been huffing … TMZ has learned.
According to the Harris County Institute of Forensic Sciences, the primary cause of death was the combined toxic effects of hydrocodone — typically Vicodin — and difluoroethane with carisoprodol. Difluoroethane is a colorless gas used as a refrigerant, something huffed to get a high. Carisoprodol is a muscle relaxer.
As TMZ first reported, Bartusiak was found dead in her home in Texas on July 19.
Bartusiak was just 7 when she appeared in “The Patriot” and had appeared in only one other major film since then.
