Tito Jackson's friends reveal his final request in four words before his death | Celebrity News | Showbiz & TV

Tito Jackson's final moments following his shocking death at the age of 70 have been revealed.

The brother of pop sensation Michael Jackson died on September 15, 2024 from the effects of a suspected heart attack.

Before his death, the lead guitarist of the Jackson 5 was on a road trip from Oklahoma to California with his friends Ronald Balfour and Terry Harvey Maltbia.

Speaking to DailyMail.com, Terry, Tito's business partner and best friend, explained that he and the singer were in Gallup, New Mexico, and stopped for something to eat before heading back to the star's ranch in Oklahoma.

Terry recalled how they arrived in New Mexico around 6 p.m. on Sunday and stopped near the American Heritage Plaza shopping center in Gallup to grab something to eat before beginning the long drive back to Oklahoma.

The trio “laughed and talked” during the meal, as Terry explained: “We just closed the top of the convertible because it started to rain.”

“That's when Tito came back through the passenger window and said, 'My chest hurts. Can you help Ronnie stop this?' [car] Great?'”

Tito admitted, “I felt a guilty feeling in my chest,” Terry recalled. “He wiped his face, took off his shirt and it was as if someone had thrown a bucket of water on him.”

Terry said he called nearby police officers and Tito was taken to a local hospital.

When they arrived at the hospital, Tito asked his friends to look in his pocket for his insurance card, but moments later his condition worsened.

While Terry “thought everything was OK because we had taken him to the hospital and he was still talking,” a woman “came out and said, 'He's not OK.'”

Terry then recalled his confused state after learning that his long-time friend was ill.

“They took me back there and I looked at him,” Terry said. “About seven doctors worked on him and it got really bad. I called his brother Marlon and that's when he died.”

The ABC singer's remains are under the jurisdiction of the New Mexico Office of the Medical Investigator.

According to the release, an autopsy is pending while the medical examiner waits for Tito's remains to be transported to Albuquerque for an examination.

Steve Manning, longtime friend and former manager of the Jackson family, also confirmed to Entertainment Tonight that the 70-year-old artist died of a heart attack.