Porn star Olivia Nova, who rose to fame in the adult film industry in just a matter of months, has died at the young age of 20. / Video: Dave Kaz
A close friend to porn star Olivia Nova insisted the starlet was trying to turn her life around and get sober before her untimely death last week.
On January 7, 20-year-old Nova, born Lexi Forde, was found dead in Las Vegas in circumstances that have to be disclosed.
Jimmie Romero, a close friend of Nova's, said she reached out to friends to help sort out her life in the days leading up to her death.
"Lexi knew her days were limited, she was told in October by doctors," Romero said in an interview with the Mirror Online earlier this week.
"She was at a friend's house trying to get sober. She had three days off of everything. She said she wanted to change her lifestyle - she looked in my eyes and said to me, 'I want to stop and change my life. I have a family that loves me.'"
"If there is a heaven, I hope you're smiling and all the pain is gone. Sleep easy my friend," Jimmie added. "My love, respect always... You will never be forgotten."
Olivia Nova (pictured) was found dead in Las Vegas on January 7 from circumstances that have yet to be disclosed. Photo / Twitter
Before entering into the adult entertainment industry, Nova experienced a number traumatic life events including a near fatal accident.
In 2014, Nova was rushed to the hospital after crashing a snowmobile that left numerous injuries on her face. The young starlet was reportedly drunk at the time of the incident.
She later posted a dramatic picture of herself in a neck-brace along with a bloody face as she was being treated in the hospital.
"So thankful to be alive," she wrote in the caption of an Instagram post. "Thank you for all of your prayers everyone, I hope you all take it to heart when I say it's never going to be worth it to drink and drive.
"I easily could've lost my life or taken another this morning," she added.
Nova's death also came less than a year after her boyfriend committed suicide. In a tweet earlier in December, she said he killed himself two days before her birthday in April.
Nova started acting in pornographic films in March of 2017.
'While only represented by Direct Models for a short period of time, we came to know Olivia as a beautiful girl with a very sweet and gentle personality,' LA Direct Models said, according to XBIZ.com.
Derek Hay, owner of LA Direct Models which signed Nova in December 2016, described her as a 'sweet, mild-mannered girl'.
"It's very very sudden, she was really a sweet, mild mannered girl, we're very saddened by her death, she was only 20," he told DailyMail.com.
Hay said Nova had only been signed up to LA Direct Models for two months and she had been in the porn industry for just a year.
"We sent her to shoot in Prague and Paris which she completed, returning from that trip just a few days prior to Christmas. I have been speaking to Olivia regularly, she lives in Vegas, my office is in Vegas. She wanted to move from one agency to my own and we met several times to discuss the possibility of doing that."
Hay says Nova died at a private residence in Vegas but not her own place.
Nova is the fourth porn star to die in recent months. August Ames, 23, committed suicide on December 6 while Turi Luv died in August from a drug overdose.
Shyla Stylez, 35, died in November and her cause of death is still unknown.
