John Amos Daughter Says She Learned Of Father’s August 21 Death By Media Reports This Week And Is “Left With Many Questions”; Body Cremated Five Weeks Ago – Update

UPDATE, with death certificate report: The daughter of the late actor John Amos says she was “without words” when learning through media reports this week that her father died in August.

The August 21 death of the Good Times actor was announced publicly on Tuesday by his son, Shannon’s brother, Kelly Christopher “K.C.” Amos. According to the announcement, John Amos died in Los Angeles of natural causes.

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An Los Angeles County death certificate obtained by Deadline indicates that Amos died of congestive heart failure at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood, on August 21 at 5:18 p.m. PT. Amos’ body was cremated nine days later on August 30.

The certificate lists Amos’ son Kelly as the person who notified the L.A. County Department of Public Health of his father’s death.

In an Instagram post Tuesday night (see it below), Shannon Amos writes: “I am without words…Our family has received the heartbreaking news that my Dad, John Allen Amos, Jr., transitioned on August 21st. We are devastated and left with many questions about how this happened 45 days ago, learning about it through the media like so many of you.”

In the announcement of Amos’ death, no explanation was given for the monthlong gap between the date of the Roots actor’s death and its public disclosure. Deadline has reached out to a spokesperson for Kelly Amos for further comment.

The Amos family has been riven by dissension for at least a year, with Shannon having accused her brother of failing to provide adequate health care for their elderly father, who died at 84. In a June 2023 Instagram post, Shannon wrote that her father was “a victim of elder abuse and financial exploitation,” charges that both Kelly Amos and John Amos disputed. The Los Angeles Police Department investigated but closed the case for lack of evidence.

After news of the rift became public last year, John Amos told People magazine, “Suffice it to say we are still family, and we love each other, and that’s the bottom line.”

In Tuesday night’s Instagram post, which was accompanied by a poignant video of Shannon slow-dancing with her father to the Luther Vandross song “Dance with My Father,” Shannon Amos wrote, “This should be a time of honoring and celebrating his life, yet we are struggling to navigate the wave of emotions and uncertainties surrounding his passing. Still, there is some semblance of peace in knowing my father is finally free.”

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