The charismatic church world will have to wait at least a few more days for final closure on Zachery Tims’ death. Although they were supposed to be released this week, the toxicology results for the Florida pastor have been delayed yet again.
“The family has raised some concerns we’re looking into,” Ellen Borakove, director of the Public Affairs Office of the New York Chief Medical Examiner’s Office, told Charisma News on Friday. Borakove said she has “no definitive information” about the toxicology report or when it will be released.
Tims, senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Center (NDCC) in the Orlando, Fla.-area, was found dead Aug. 12 in his room at the W Hotel in Times Square.
The 42-year-old was in town for a speaking engagement when hotel housekeepers discovered his body on the floor of his room. Daily News reported that a police source said Tims may have died of a drug overdose, as a small glassine envelope containing a white substance was found in Tims’ pocket.
Tims was a self-proclaimed former drug user and even wrote about his story in his book, It’s Never Too Late. Although church officials have not commented on the circumstances surrounding Tims’ death, Bishop T.D. Jakes spoke at the funeral about how unhappy Tims was.
“I thought I was the only one who knew how unhappy Zach was, how broken he was, how afraid he was if anybody was to see any flaw in him,” Jakes said. “He tried hard to heal himself, to fix himself … I don’t know what happened in that room in New York, but I can only hope that as Zach was dying, Dr. Tims stood up.”
