Aaron Carter‘s fiancée Melanie Martin was seen moving her belongings out of the late singer’s Lancaster, Calif. home on Wednesday, Nov. 9 — just days after his body was discovered in the bathtub at the residence. Melanie was accompanied by a few friends as she carried her stuff into a moving van. Police could be seen at the scene as well, ensuring Melanie’s safety and a smooth transition.
Melanie and Aaron had been engaged since 2020 following an on-again, off-again relationship that endured a miscarriage and an alleged domestic violence incident. They welcomed their first child together, a son named Prince, in Nov. 2021. Melanie, an influencer and model, could be seen on the phone at one point during her visit to Aaron’s $800,000 abode and appeared distraught. She wore a pink and blue tie-dyed hoodie and pink sweats that she tucked into black boots and had her long, blonde hair pulled back by a headband.
Aaron died unexpectedly on Saturday, Nov. 5 at his home. As mentioned above, he was found unresponsive in his bathtub by Melanie. She was pictured crying outside his house that day. The model took to social media along with Aaron’s fans, friends, and family to mourn his death in the days that followed the tragic news. “Aaron, I love you beyond measure. You are my soulmate, the father of my child, my whole world,” she began in a Nov. 6 post on Instagram that showed a screenshot of a picture of the partners holding their little one.
“I don’t know how I will go on without you, my love. We’ve been through so much together,” she continued. “My life won’t ever be the same without you in it. You brought so much joy into my life, despite our troubles. Our love for each other was always strong and could never be broken. We were in this for life. I’ll never stop loving you or missing you. Thank you for giving me our son. I will raise him telling him how you were such an amazing man that loved him and was so proud of him. I love you 3000.”
On Nov. 7, Melanie opened up about how she wishes she was able to help Aaron more amid his mental health and addiction struggles. “My heart is completely broken over the passing of my fiancé Aaron. I knew he was struggling, and I tried everything to help him,” she told PEOPLE. “He has a very independent and strong personality, and I couldn’t help him in the way I felt he needed it.”
“I only wish I had more people to help me with him,” she added. “I will now be raising our son as a single mother and this is the worst day of my life, but I have to be strong for our son.”
In another tribute she shared on Nov. 8, Melanie strung together a series of videos of her with the “Aaron’s Party” hitmaker, including one with their 1-year-old son. The video showed the lovebirds laughing together, kissing, and parenting, and in the caption, Melanie discussed how much she cherishes those moments. “I miss my fiancée so much and hope you can see from some videos how much light he brought to a room. My love you were taken too soon from the world,” she wrote in her heartfelt note. “These are some great healthy moments we had together and i will cherish them forever. God only made one of you and i was lucky enough to have met the love of my life. Theres no one I’ll ever be with again i always told you that you are the only one for me for life. I am no ready to let you go but God has decided that he wanted to show you a better place.”
Aaron’s older brother, Nick Carter, 42, who he had a notoriously rocky relationship with, also paid tribute to the former child star and spoke about his ever-present struggles. “My heart has been broken today. Even though my brother and I have had a complicated relationship, my love for him has never ever faded,” he began in his Nov. 6 Instagram post. “I have always held onto the hope, that he would somehow, someday want to walk a healthy path and eventually find the help that he so desperately needed.”
“Sometimes we want to blame someone or something for a loss. But the truth is that addiction and mental illness is the real villain here,” he continued. “I will miss my brother more than anyone will ever know. I love you Chizz, now you get a chance to finally have some peace you could never find here on earth….God, Please take care of my baby brother.”
Aaron had been open about his substance abuse issues and depression for years, including in his final interview, which was filmed in August. “I took a break since 2017. I needed to go to rehab,” he explained on K’LA Afterdark, opening up about his journey to reclaiming his life. “I think I grew into the real, true, authentic version of myself. I went to rehab four times until I finally got it right.”