The New York City Office of Chief Medical Examiner made the ruling on 21 December 2022, four months after she passed away on 29 August. 

A spokesperson said that the sepsis "was a complication from asplenia" (the absence of a spleen) due to "remote blunt trauma to her torso".

According to Dean’s brother, Alex Jacobs, she was involved in a car accident around 2008, which led to doctors removing her spleen.

Shortly after her death, Jacobs told Rolling Stone magazine that Dean had been experiencing "minor" symptoms and asked her fiancé, fellow South African Luke Volker, to take her to the emergency room. She died hours later.

Jacobs said: "This happened literally within the span of a day: getting a headache, going to sleep, waking up her boyfriend and saying please take me to the hospital."

Dean’s death was ruled an accident, and her sepsis was caused after she was infected with a bacteria known as Capnocytophaga.

The South African actress is best known for her role as Syonide on the CW’s Black Lighting. Most recently, she starred in Triangle of Sadness alongside Woody Harrelson and Harris Dickinson, which premiered in October this year. Dean has also appeared in Spud, Blood in the Water, Don’t Sleep, An Interview with God, and Porthole.

After Dean’s death, Volker shared a video her on Instagram, which he captioned: "Nothing I write here will ever feel good enough. She’s the best person I’ve ever met and I was the luckiest guy in the world to have spent my days with her. I hope there’s a heaven up there."

News24