On April 13, 2013, website oneloveforchi.com reported that Cheng had died of a sudden cardiac arrest after he was rushed to a hospital. According to a statement issued by his mother, Jeanne Marie Cheng, the morning of April 13, 2013, he was taken to the emergency room of a Stockton area hospital around 3:00 a.m. PST when Jeanne recalls that her son's "heart just suddenly stopped." Whether his condition of pneumonia (first recorded back in June 2012) was related to his death is still unknown. Upon arrival, Cheng was pronounced dead. Jeanne Cheng addressed her son's fans across the world with an impromptu letter.