Marion Christopher Barry, the son of D.C.’s mayor for life Marion Barry, died early Sunday morning of an apparent drug overdose. Barry was 36.

Growing up in the shadow of his prominent father, Barry attempted to create a name of himself in D.C. politics. But after a failed attempt at winning his father’s council seat, he focused his attention on his construction company.

According to a police report, a witness says that Barry went outside to smoke K-2 and PCP around 12:10 a.m. early Sunday morning. When he came back into the home on Pomeroy Road SE, he “was acting crazy” and “suddenly dropped,” becoming unconscious and unresponsive. An ambulance took Barry to George Washington University Hospital while medics performed CPR on him. Hospital staff pronounced his death at 2:11 a.m. His remains were taken to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for an autopsy.

While the police report does not identify Barry as the victim, friends and family have confirmed his death. Cora Masters, Barry’s stepmother, said in a statement that the news is “devastating … My heart is broken. I am in shock.”

Like the late mayor, Barry had a history of drug usage. In 2011, police charged him with possession of marijuana and PCP, and he was sentenced to 18 months probation. Two years later, police arrested and charged him with driving under the influence and possession of marijuana.

Former Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham told WTOP that he and Barry attended drug recovery sessions together for at least five years, but the 36-year-old “never really dove into” the program. “If he’d done that maybe there would be a different conclusion today,” Graham said.

“Something very, very good has been lost here,” Graham continued, adding that he saw Barry’s potential in 2015 as they built a relationship during his unsuccessful bid for the Ward 8 council seat, which was left vacant after his father’s death.

Trayon White, who also unsuccessfully ran in that race, but has since become the Ward 8 Democratic nominee, told The Washington Post that Barry was like a brother to him. “He cared about the community. He had a lot of things that he wanted to work on to better the community,” said White, who was a protege of the late mayor.

And in a statement released today, Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton says that Barry’s death “has stunned not only his family and friends, but also the District, which saw him grow up from the time he entered school here as a child. Some thought Christopher lived a life of privilege, but he experienced the pain that often comes with that so-called privilege. Many beyond his friends and family feel the deep loss of Christopher in the springtime of his life.”

The congresswoman called “her friend Cora Masters Barry” yesterday morning to express her sympathies, according to the release.

Mayor Muriel Bowser and a host of other D.C. officials have also shared condolences since the incident.

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