Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s mother Pamela revealed fresh–and heart wrenching–information about her son’s tragic death during an appearance on Good Morning America Tuesday.
Warner was in Costa Rica with his wife and daughter when he died from drowning on July 21. The former Cosby Show star was only 54 years old, and his death shattered the entertainment world.
During her conversation with GMA’s Robin Roberts, Pamela Warner admitted to screaming “from the bottom of my soul” in “indescribable pain” after she learned the news of her son’s passing.
Pamela added that her son’s wife Tenisha and young daughter are “both in deep grief.”
The grieving mother also shared some new details about the events of that terrible day and the weeks leading up to it.
A family trip turned tragic
Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s wife and daughter had already been in Costa Rica for three weeks as part of an immersion program before the Malcolm & Eddie actor joined them for the final part of the visit.
On July 21, Warner was in the ocean with another male swimmer when he experienced an undertow.
“They were in the water, I think maybe chest deep, even at that — maybe waist deep,” Pamela said, via PEOPLE. “There was an undertow, and my son was not an experienced swimmer. He did not know how to deal with an undertow.”
“The same [undertow] happened to the other gentleman, but he was a more experienced swimmer and he was able to rescue himself. But Malcolm was not,” she added.
“The spiritual part of it was — that was his time.”
Pamela Warner om her son’s death.
Many early reports indicated that Warner’s daughter was in the water with him when he drowned, but Pamela said that is not accurate.
Still, she acknowledged that her granddaughter witnesses the resuscitation efforts on her father, an experience “that’s awfully, awfully traumatic.”
“She loved her father dearly. She adored papa — he was papa,” Pamela said.
Keeping Warner’s ‘legacy’ alive
Both Warner’s mother and his wife have announced endeavors to honor his memory and create a positive impact in his name.
On August 6, two weeks after her son’s death, Pamela started the “Malcolm-Jamal Warner Living Legacy” Instagram account, which can be found here.
Last Friday, Tenisha Warner announced the formation of River & Ember and the Warner Family Foundation in a heartfelt social media post.
“Together we carry the legacy my husband and I began—one that nurtures children’s inner light and gives young artists the freedom to create outside the lines,” she said.
“This is love. Still moving. Still making. Still carrying us forward.”
