Mariah Carey's Sister Alison 'Had a Tough Life,' Says Friend, and Hadn't Seen the Singer in Decades (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Mariah Carey’slate sister Alison Careywas dealt a difficult hand in life — but was able to see her children before she died on Aug. 24, according to her friend and advocate.

David Baker, whoknew Alison, 63, for nine years, tells PEOPLE that she “had a tough life” before she died at her home in Coxsackie, New York.

“We saw it coming, but it’s still a shock,” he says. “She got ill fairly quickly and a month later, she’s gone.”

Baker previouslyshared on Xon Aug. 3 that Alison had entered hospice. It was he who helped her find her final apartment in Coxsackie, New York, where she’d lived for the past three years. He says that there was talk of putting her in a nursing home prior to the move, but he offered to help her out if it meant she could remain living on her own.

“She got her wish,” he says. “She died in her own home.”

Mariah Carey performing in April 2024.Denise Truscello/Getty

Denise Truscello/Getty

As for her famous sister, Baker says Alison wasn’t exactly sure the last time they’d seen each other, but that it was either 1994 or 2002. The two shared a complicated relationship, as Mariah wrote in her memoir that it was, at least at the time, “emotionally and physically safer for me not to have any contact” with her or their brother Morgan.

“I’m praying for them and hope they are finally at peace,” Morgan tells PEOPLE in a statement. “We were five, and now we are two.”

Alison was also unaware that hermother Patricia diedon the same day, as Alison passed just after midnight on Aug. 24.

“Alison was a highly intelligent, very sensitive person” he says.

Mariah Carey and her brother Morgan.Barry King/WireImage

Baker and Alison’s paths first crossed in 2015, when Alison suffered a serious brain injury during a home invasion. She lived on Long Island, New York at the time and was hospitalized there, but was ultimately transferred upstate. While in physical rehab, she was hospitalized once again after suffering a brain hemorrhage.

At that point, Baker says, a friend of her brother Morgan suggested reaching out for help in a patient advocacy Facebook group that Baker was a part of, looking for someone in the area who might be able to visit her.

Mariah Carey on Feb. 4, 2024.Kevin Winter/Getty

Kevin Winter/Getty

“I knew when I saw the request that I was the only person anywhere near Albany, New York, so I said, ‘Well, I’m going to go for this,’” he recalls. “They eventually sent me to the hospital and I met Alison.”

PEOPLE confirmed on Monday, Aug. 26 that Carey’s mother Patricia and sister Alisondied on the same day over the weekend.

“My heart is broken that I’ve lost my mother this past weekend. Sadly, in a tragic turn of events, my sister lost her life on the same day,” the Grammy-winning singer, 55, said in an exclusive statement to PEOPLE. “I feel blessed that I was able to spend the last week with my mom before she passed. I appreciate everyone’s love and support and respect for my privacy during this impossible time.”

source: people.com