There is another heartbreaking update on the tragic passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
Following news of The Cosby Show alum’s passing, ABC News has revealed that police said Malcolm-Jamal Warner was swimming with his 8-year-old daughter on Sunday off the coast of Costa Rica when he drowned.
According to reports, surfers spotted the actor and his daughter struggling in the water and dove in to help.
One of the surfers used his board to bring Warner’s daughter to safety, while a volunteer lifeguard pulled Warner and another surfer to shore. Warner was given 45 minutes of CPR, according to police, per ABC. Both surfers survived.
On Tuesday, Police told the outlet that an autopsy on Warner has been completed, with the Forensic Pathology Department saying that the autopsy confirmed Warner’s cause of death, which was described as asphyxiation by submersion, and was accidental.
As we previously reported, the Caribbean Guard, Costa Rica’s volunteer lifeguard association, revealed that Playa Grande lifeguards were “not present” on the beach at the time of Warner’s death.
“We deeply regret the passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner at Playa Grande. He was swept away by a strong rip current and died by drowning,” the Caribbean Guard said in a Monday, July 21, statement via Facebook. “It all happened very quickly, and although there were people on the beach who entered the water to rescue him, they did not arrive in time. He was pulled from underwater without vital signs, and despite CPR maneuvers being performed on the beach, resuscitation was unsuccessful.”
The Guard went on to say that Playa Grande, well known by “local surfers,” is one of their “most challenging beaches,” adding that there are signs in both Spanish and English “warning of the danger of death due to drowning.” Though the Guard has patrolled there “over the past few years,” they claimed that they were “not present” at the time of Warner’s death due to lack of “resources.”
Warner passed away near Cocles, a beach in Limon, Costa Rica, after getting caught by a rip current. He was 54. He is survived by his wife and daughter, whose identities were never publicly revealed.
