Trigger warning: This article mentions death.
Mariah Carey’s sister Alison recently died at her home in Coxsackie, the same day as their mother Patricia passed away on August 24. According to Alison’s friends, she “had a very difficult life” and her death was not a surprise. However, she was able to see her children on her deathbed and fulfilled her wish to take her last breath in her home.
David Baker, who knew the Fantasy singer’s late sister, gave PEOPLE a detailed look at her life. “We saw it coming, but it’s still a shock. She got sick fairly quickly, and a month later, she was gone,” he tells the outlet. Previously, Baker shared on X (formerly Twitter) that Alison entered home hospice care. There was talk of putting her in a nursing home, but Baker helped her find her own apartment in Coxsackie, New York, where she lived for three years until her death. “Her wish came true,” he says. “She died in her home.”
He also revealed in another tweet that Alison suffered from severe post-traumatic stress disorder in the 1980s after “being forced to watch late night Satan worship atrocities when she was a child,” claiming her mother subjected her to this abuse.
Alison was the mother of four children – three sons and a daughter. Two or three weeks before her tragic death, her children came to visit her. As for her famous sister, the relationship between the two was complicated. Mariah mentions in her memoir that, at least at that time, it was “safer for me emotionally and physically” to have no contact with Alison or their brother Morgan.
On Aug. 26, Mariah expressed her grief in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. “I am heartbroken that I lost my mom this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister also lost her life that same day,” the Grammy-winning singer said.
She said she was grateful to be with her mother in her final moments. She said, “I appreciate everyone’s love, support and respect for my privacy during this difficult time.”
