'Today, the world lost a little piece of sunshine': Tributes for Brittany Murphy as coroner rules out drugs death

American actress Brittany Murphy's shock death at the age of 32 was not caused by drugs, the LA coroner said yesterday. Miss Murphy, who had a wild reputation and was allegedly hooked on tranquilisers, died of a heart attack yesterday.

She was found unconscious at 8am in the shower by her mother at the home she shares with her husband, the British screenwriter Simon Monjack. When medics arrived she was in full cardiac arrest and they continued giving her CPR until she got to Cedars-Sinai Medical Centre, near Beverly Hills.But she was unresponsive and pronounced dead on arrival at 10.03am.

Demi Moore's husband Ashton Kutcher, who split from Miss Murphy in 2003 after seven months together, said: ‘My deepest condolences go out to Brittany’s family, her husband, and her amazing mother Sharon.’ He added three minutes later: ‘2day the world lost a little piece of sunhsine. See you on the other side kid.’

Celebrity blogger Perez Hilton paid tribute to the star but said he had seen her death coming. He wrote: 'Absolutely devastating. Especially because this comes as no surprise! We, and those who knew Brittany personally, saw this coming.' The Clueless, 8 Mile and Sin City star was fired from an upcoming film for being difficult on set.

Friends were also quoted as saying: 'Brittany's bee living life on the edge. She definitely had a drug problem and we have begged her to seek help.' An unconfirmed report suggested she had become addicted to prescription drugs since taking painkillers after cosmetic surgery.

Editor: Whatever the reason behind her death, may she rest in peace.

&nbs