Etika
American internet personality
Died when: 29 years 38 days (349 months)Star Sign: Taurus
Desmond Daniel Amofah (May 12, 1990 – c.June 19, 2019), better known as Etika, was an American YouTuber and online streamer.He was best known for his highly energetic reactions to Super Smash Bros. character reveals and Nintendo Direct presentations, and for playing and reacting to various games.
He was a son of Ghanaian politician Owuraku Amofah, and a resident of Brooklyn, New York, for most of his life.
Amofah began his YouTube career in 2006, later creating his main YouTube channel, "EWNetwork" (meaning "Etika World Network"), in July 2012.His fanbase was dubbed the "JOYCONBOYZ", named after the Nintendo Switch controller, the Joy-Con.
He became popular after the release of Super Smash Bros. 4, through his videos where he often discussed elements and new developments regarding the game.
His channel consisted largely of stream material, namely playthroughs of recently released games and reactions to trailers, alongside additional edited videos.
In October 2018, Amofah's channel was terminated after he had a mental breakdown and uploaded pornography.After apologizing on his subreddit, r/EtikaRedditNetwork, Amofah created his second channel, "EtikaFRFX" (meaning "for real facts"), which would also be terminated in April 2019 after Amofah had another breakdown and uploaded pornography to that channel as well.
He then had a series of breakdowns and was detained by police, the latter of which was streamed live to his Instagram followers.
Following the termination of his second channel, Amofah uploaded content using his personal account he created in 2006, "TR1Iceman", and streamed through a separate channel, "E Live", with both channels currently still available to view on YouTube.
During the last few months of his life, Amofah showed signs of mental illness and threatened to commit suicide on multiple occasions, and was hospitalised multiple times under police restraint.
Amofah disappeared on the evening of June 19, 2019.Later that night, an apologetic video was uploaded on his "TR1Iceman" channel in which he admitted to being mentally ill and suicidal.
Following the discovery of his belongings on the pedestrian walkway of the Manhattan Bridge, Amofah's body was discovered in the East River on June 24, by the New York City Police Department, who confirmed online the next day that Amofah had died.
On June 26, the Office of Chief Medical Examiner concluded that Amofah had drowned after jumping off the Manhattan Bridge.His death was met with expressions of shock and grief by fans, other YouTubers, and the media, with many calling for the public to take mental health more seriously, as the signs of Amofah's mental deterioration were downplayed or ignored.
Several memorials and murals were set up around the New York City area for Amofah shortly following his death.
