Mahlet Goshu Debas, 26, formerly of Rainham, died in the early hours of June 13, 2024, in Surrey Road, Dagenham.
She had gone out the night before to buy controlled prescription drugs from a dealer near a supermarket, an inquest heard, while a friend bought drugs from another dealer.
They then shared the drugs and fell asleep.
But when a staff member tried to wake Miss Debas in the morning to take her prescribed medications, she was found lifeless.
Paramedics arrived within minutes but found rigor mortis – the stiffening of the body – had already set in, indicating she had been dead for hours.
Her friend told them Miss Debas’s consumption of drugs had not been unusual for her.
An inquest at East London Coroner’s Court heard on Tuesday (April 8) that Miss Debas had long-standing problems with illegal drug use and severe mental health issues.
She had been evicted from two previous supported accommodation units, including one in Rainham, because of her insistence on bringing illegal drugs onto the premises and other “challenging behaviour”.
She had also been flagged up by the London Ambulance Service as a nuisance caller, having dialled 999 26 times in one year.
Barking and Dagenham Council described her as suffering from “a psychotic disorder, complicated by multiple substance misuse”.
Born in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, the court heard she became known to the British authorities as a teenager, often running away from home.
As an adult she was repeatedly detained under section due to her mental health problems.
On one occasion, said coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe, Miss Debas “was burning incense and wanted to set fire to the home” because she was afraid an “evil spirit” was after her.
Her sister described her in a statement to the court as “a happy, active, likeable person” who “befriended almost anyone”.
“This led her to feel peer pressured into picking up bad habits of smoking and using cannabis,” she said.
Miss Debas’s use of cannabinoids fuelled her mental health problems, the court heard.
Dr Radcliffe ruled her death drug-related. A pathologist had given her cause of death as acute cardiorespiratory failure caused by combined drug use.
“I would like to convey my deepest condolences to her family,” the coroner said.
