On 29 June 1993, Héctor died at Saint Clare's Hospital (Manhattan) from a complication from AIDS. He was 46. He was initially buried in Saint Raymond's Cemetery in the Bronx. In June 2002, the remains of Lavoe and his son were exhumed at his family's request and reburied in his native Ponce, along with his widow Nilda who had died a few weeks before. His remains are at the Cementerio Civil de Ponce (Ponce Civil Cemetery), in that city's Portugués Urbano neighborhood.