Police have revealed that Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s daughter was not with him in the water at the time of the tragic drowning incident.
The clarification came Thursday in a recent statement from Costa Rica’s Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ).
“Mr. Warner was playing with his daughter at the seashore at one point. He then left her out of the water, and he and a friend of his entered the sea,” People Magazine quoted the statement, translated from Spanish to English.
“It was at that moment that they were swept away by the current, and the friend managed to get out,” the statement continued.
“However, Mr. Warner was unable to get out and was pulled out by several people on the beach. He received care from Red Cross officials, but was pronounced dead at the scene.”
Officials confirmed Warner’s cause of death as “asphyxiation by submersion.” The 54-year-old actor’s body was formally identified by Costa Rica’s National Police and will be repatriated through a funeral service hired by the family.
The investigation into the incident remains ongoing. Warner, who died on Monday during a family vacation in Costa Rica, leaves behind his wife and his eight-year-old daughter.
