A second man is reportedly in critical condition after he was also “dragged” by the fatal water current killed the 54-year-old Cosby Show star Malcolm-Jamal Warner in Costa Rica.
Warner, best known for his role as Theo Huxtable on the beloved Eighties sitcom The Cosby Show, died Sunday. News of his death was initially reported Monday, shocking his colleagues and fans around the world.
New details have since emerged, including the condition of the second unidentified man who was also pulled from the water. On Sunday at around 2:10 p.m., the Costa Rican Red Cross received a report about a “water-related” incident involving two males at the Playa Grande resort in Cahuita, Limón, the organization said in a statement shared with The Independent.
When medics arrived, they “attended” to both men. While one was rushed to a local Limón clinic in critical condition, the other, Warner, was given CPR before being pronounced dead at the scene, the Costa Rican Red Cross said.
“The scene was subsequently handed over to the police authorities for the appropriate legal procedures,” the organization said. The Costa Rican Red Cross additionally told People that, according to their report, “two people were dragged by a water current at the beach.” By the time first responders arrived, both men were out of the ocean.
In an earlier statement shared Monday, per People, the Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) confirmed that Warner “appears to have entered the sea and was apparently swept away by a current.”
Bystanders “rescued” Warner from the water and brought him to shore. “However, he was declared lifeless at the scene,” the OIJ statement said.
The actor’s official cause of death was asphyxia, Costa Rican National Police confirmed, per ABC News.
Warner, best known for his role on The Cosby Show, more recently appeared in Sons of Anarchy, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, and The Resident.
Several celebrities and co-stars have paid tribute to Warner, with his Malcom & Eddie co-star Eddie Griffin remembering him as “my big little brother.”
“My Heart is heavy today… For what the world lost was a Father a Son a Poet a Musician a Actor a Teacher a Writer a Director a Friend a Warrior that I had the pleasure of going to war with against the Hollywood machine and sometimes with each other because that’s what Brothers do but the Love was and is always there,” Griffin wrote on Instagram. “You’ve taught me so much and I thank you.”
Tracee Ellis Ross, who starred with Warner as a married couple in Reed Between the Lines, wrote in a heartfelt Instagram post: “I love you, Malcolm. First I met you as Theo with the rest of the world then you were my first TV husband. My heart is so so sad. What an actor and friend you were: warm, gentle, present, kind, thoughtful, deep, funny, elegant. You made the world a brighter place. Sending so much love to your family. I’m so sorry for this unimaginable loss.”
