The guitarist and composer of the band's biggest hits died at age 38.
The jury has reached a verdict in the case of Dr. Richard Snellgrove, revealing that the doctor who treated 3 Doors Down guitarist Matt Roberts is innocent.
Snellgrove was prosecuted in 2016 for prescribing fentanyl and other hard substances to the musician that may have led to the overdose that killed him on August 20 of that year. Roberts was only 38 years old when he died, and his body was found in a hotel room a few hours before a charity event for veteran soldiers that he was scheduled to attend.
According to TMZ sources, despite being cleared of criminal charges, the doctor is still being sued for wrongful death. The lawsuit is based on Snellgrove's knowledge that Roberts had a predisposition to drug addiction.
Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that began to be used in the 1960s as an anesthetic and is currently linked to a large number of deaths in the US, as was the case with the musician Prince.
Matt Roberts founded 3 Doors Down in 1996 alongside vocalist Brad Arnold and bassist Todd Harrell in Escatawpa, Mississippi. After several tracks reached the top of the Billboard charts, the guitarist left the band in 2012 due to health problems. "The band will always be in my heart and I'm very sad to have to leave, but my health needs to be a priority," Roberts said at the time.