The cause of death of Victoria Jones, the daughter of Tommy Lee Jones, has been confirmed by authorities.
The new year brought devastating news for one of Hollywood’s most respected families.
Victoria Jones, the 34-year-old daughter of Academy Award-winning actor Tommy Lee Jones, was found unresponsive in the early hours of January 1, 2026, at the Fairmont Hotel in San Francisco.
Tommy Lee Jones, now 79, is widely regarded as one of the finest actors of his generation.
He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in 1993 for his role in The Fugitive. He has been married to his third wife, Dawn Laurel, since 2001.
Hotel staff raised the alarm after discovering her collapsed on the floor of her room on the 14th floor, and emergency services were called at approximately 2:52 a.m.
Both the San Francisco Police Department and San Francisco Fire Department responded to the scene.
Upon arrival, paramedics carried out an assessment and pronounced Victoria dead. At the time, her cause of death remained unknown, and authorities stated that no foul play was suspected.
In the immediate aftermath of the tragedy, the Jones family released a brief but heartfelt statement on January 2.
“We appreciate all of the kind words, thoughts, and prayers. Please respect our privacy during this difficult time. Thank you.” It was a quiet, dignified response from a family navigating unimaginable grief in the public eye.
A Hollywood childhood
Victoria Jones was born in 1991 to Tommy Lee Jones and his second wife, Kimberlea Cloughley, to whom he was married from 1981 to 1996. The former couple also share a son, Austin Jones, now 43.
Growing up in the orbit of one of Hollywood’s most acclaimed actors, it was perhaps natural that Victoria would find her way in front of the camera.
She made her film debut in her father’s 2002 blockbuster Men in Black II, and over the following years took on a handful of further roles.
She appeared as an immigrant in the Western The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada, a film directed by her father, and had credits in Sorry, Haters and The Homesman, another of Tommy’s films, in 2014.
Her final on-screen appearance came in a 2005 episode of the popular teen drama One Tree Hill, where she played a cheerleader.
In a 2006 interview with The New Yorker, Tommy spoke warmly about his daughter’s early forays into acting.
“She’s a good actress, has her SAG card, speaks impeccable Spanish,” he said proudly. He also recalled a memorable moment on the set of Three Burials, when a young Victoria refused to get out of bed for a 5 a.m. call time. “I said, ‘Honey, this is work.’ But she wouldn’t budge. So I fired her,” he laughed, before revealing that the production team quietly went behind his back to wake her and get her to the set just in time.
Despite that promising start, Victoria ultimately stepped back from acting as an adult. In the years that followed, she was most often seen accompanying her father on red carpets at premieres and festivals around the world.
A year of struggles
In the months before her death, Victoria had faced a series of serious personal difficulties.
Court records reviewed by People revealed that she was arrested at least twice in 2025. In April of that year, she was taken into custody in Napa County, California, on charges that included obstructing a police officer, being under the influence of a controlled substance, and possessing a narcotic.
She pleaded not guilty to those charges. A second arrest followed in June for an alleged domestic violence incident, after which she was released on bail. She had a pretrial conference scheduled for January 2026, the very month she died.
Her troubles had not gone unnoticed by her family. Court records from Marin County Superior Court, first reported by the Daily Mail, revealed that Tommy had petitioned for a temporary conservatorship for his daughter in August 2023, citing concerns for her well-being.
Around the same time, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that Victoria had been placed on a 14-day psychiatric hold. A judge approved the conservatorship, though Tommy later petitioned to have it dismissed, and it was formally ended in December 2023.
Dispatch audio obtained from the night of her death told its own grim story. The emergency call was classified as a ‘code 3 for the overdose, color change,’ a reference to cyanosis, a condition in which low oxygen levels cause a blue or purple discoloration of the skin, lips, and nails.
Witnesses present at the hotel that night reported that Victoria had been with a small group of people ringing in the new year before the tragedy unfolded.
The cause of death revealed
More than six weeks after Victoria’s death, the San Francisco Office of the Chief Medical Examiner released its official findings, per the Independent.
On February 17, 2026, the office confirmed that Victoria Jones had died from the ‘toxic effects of cocaine.’ The manner of her death was ruled an accident.
The announcement brought a measure of painful closure to a story that had gripped Hollywood since the first hours of 2026. Victoria Jones was 34 years old.
Through it all, the deeply private actor has kept his family largely shielded from public scrutiny.
