The Wire star James Ransone's coroner report reveals new details following shock death at 46

New details have emerged following the death of The Wire star James Ransone, who took his own life on December 19 at the age of 46.

The actor, who was best known for playing Ziggy Sobotka on the HBO crime drama, did not leave a note but had 'had history of suicidal ideations,' according to the Los Angeles Medical Examiner's autopsy report obtained by Entertainment Weekly.

The report revealed Ransone had said he 'wanted to kill himself' and that he needed to go to hospital for 'unspecified mental health issues' around the time of his death.

Prescription medications were found at the scene and the actor had 'multiple small white colored "pouches"' in his mouth.

The report stated however that Ransone had no history of drug or alcohol abuse, and no drug paraphernalia was found. Nor was there any sign of foul play.

Ransone was last seen alive in the early afternoon of December 19. Shortly after, he was found unresponsive in a shed on his property in Los Angeles.

Paramedics were called and he was pronounced dead.

Ransone was also found with ligature marks on his neck, which was consistent with the manner of his death by hanging, per TMZ.

His widow, Jamie McPhee, has since left heartfelt updates on Instagram, thanking family, friends and followers for their support while raising the couple's two children, son Jack, seven, and daughter Violet, four.

Two days after Ransone's death, McPhee had a message for her late husband, writing: 'I told you I have loved you 1000 times before and I know I will love you again. You told me—I need to be more like you and you need to be more like me — and you were so right.

'Thank you for giving me the greatest gifts — you, Jack and Violet. We are forever,' she added.

A GoFundMe was created by a friend to help support the family and raised more than $250,000.

Ransone had played minor parts on TV in the early 2000s prior to his breakout role as Ziggy Sobotka during season two of The Wire in 2003.

His portrayal of the deeply troubled Baltimore dock worker and gangster earned him critical acclaim.

Ransome went on to star in the HBO miniseries Generation Kill in 2008 and the HBO drama series Treme during its second and third seasons in 2011 and 2012. He also starred in season two of Amazon's Bosch in 2016, playing a corrupt cop.

His final television role was in 2025 in a season two episode of Peacock series Poker Face.

Ransone had many film roles in horror and indies including Prom Night (2008), Sinister (2012), Sinister 2 (2015), Tangerine (2015), Mr. Right (2015), It Chapter Two (2019), The Black Phone (2021) and the upcoming Black Phone 2 (2025).

In 2021, he publicly shared that he was a survivor of sexual abuse.

He had also spoken candidly about addiction and recovery, revealing in a 2016 Interview Magazine profile that he got sober at age 27 after years of heroin use.

'People think I got sober working on the 'Generation Kill.' I didn't,' he said at the time. 'I sobered up six or seven months before that. I remember going to Africa and I was going to be there for almost a year. I was number two on the call sheet and I was like, 'I think somebody made a mistake. This is too much responsibility for me.'

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