(Photo: New Destiny Christian Center via The Christian Post)Zachery Tims, the late pastor of New Destiny Christian Center in Apopka, Fla., was found dead in a New York City hotel room on Friday, August 12, 2011. Police do not suspect foul play.
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A representative with the New York Chief Medical Examiner's office told The Christian Post Tuesday that the much-anticipated toxicology results for Zachery Tims should be available this week.
The test results, expected to be available on Sept. 28 or 29, are crucial for determining the cause of death for the Florida minister who was found dead in his room at the W. Hotel in Times Square on Aug. 12.
Senior pastor of New Destiny Christian Church (NDCC) in Apopka, Fla., Tims was in New York for a speaking engagement.
The authorities revealed that a glassine envelope of white powder was found in his right pants pocket upon his body’s discovery. A possibility that Tims might have died from a drug overdose is reportedly being considered.
The charismatic preacher battled drug addiction before becoming a Christian, a subject which he focuses on his memoir "It's Never Too Late."
Tims, a Baltimore, Md., native, shared in a TBN broadcast on July 12: "At the age of 14, I shot a man and tried to kill him. I was locked up till I was 16. I was a drug addict till I was 19."
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But Tims professed that God turned his life around.
"I'm a living witness [that] it is never too late," he stressed on TBN's "Praise the Lord" program, which he frequently hosted.
NDCC is currently in the process of searching for a new leader, as Tims did not leave behind instructions regarding a successor.
Church administrators have not commented on the suspicious substance found on Tims, but Bishop T.D. Jakes, who delivered the minister's eulogy during his Aug. 21 funeral, insinuated that Tims struggled with personal problems.
In the eulogy, The Potter's House minister compared Tims to Jacob from the Bible, whom God renamed Israel.
"I thought I was the only one who knew how unhappy Zach was, how broken he was, how afraid he was if anybody was to see any flaw in him," Jakes said. "He tried hard to heal himself, to fix himself … I don't know what happened in that room in New York, but I can only hope that as Zach was dying, Dr. Tims stood up."
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