by Blake Chapman Desmond Amofah, a popular video game streamer also known as Etika, was found deceased Monday evening in New York City. The online personality renowned for his overzealous reactions to Nintendo announcements and other video games was last heard from June 19 around 8 p.m. Late that same night, a small portion of the Brooklyn native’s belongings were then discovered on Manhattan Bridge including his New York State driver’s license, his cell phone and a black and red Nintendo Switch. Initial fears set in after he posted a concerning video to his YouTube channel “TR1Iceman” that same week. In the video Amofah discusses thoughts of suicide, mental illness and “betraying those around him” while casually walking down the street. He said, “Was it the social media? Was it the mental illness? Was it the edginess? It was a mix of all of that, but I ultimately turned down help. And you know what they say, you can’t help somebody who doesn’t want to help themselves.” On Monday evening around 6:20 p.m. Amofah’s body was found in the East River near the South Street Seaport. The official twitter of the New York Police Department announced early Tuesday afternoon that he was found deceased, and the post currently has over 65,000 retweets. “Let my story be one that advises caution on too much of this social media s––t. It can give you an image of what you want your life to be, and it can get blown completely out of proportion,” said Amofah. “Unfortunately, it consumed me, it made me forget about consequences to my actions…it made me forget that there is weight behind words.” After his original YouTube channel “EWNetwork” was terminated last October for multiple infractions of the sites terms of use concerning nudity and sexual content, he moved on to making TR1Iceman his primary platform which currently has over 135,000 subscribers. The public and online catastrophes did not stop there, with the most recent being a live-streamed altercation with police officers in his Brooklyn residence back in April. The investigation into Amofah’s death is ongoing and a cause has yet to be confirmed.
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