The three died in their Staten Island home due to an accidental carbon monoxide poisoning after boiler vents in the basement were stuffed with plastic bags to keep out concrete from construction work. Her husband, Luan Prapaniku, had recently died from cancer.

Anita started singing at the age of sixteen, and she became popular in Albania with her song "First Love." She emigrated to the United States in 1996. At the time that she died, she was in the process of recording two albums, one in Albanian and one in English.