Nov. 7 (UPI) — Taraja Ramsess, a stuntman and actor who worked on the Black Panther and Avengers movies, has died along with three of his children in a car crash in Georgia.
Ramsess, 41, and his five children were traveling on Interstate 20 near Atlanta just before midnight on Halloween, when they collided with a tractor-trailer that had broken down in the left lane, according to a WSB-TV report. The crash remains under investigation.
Ramsess’ mother, Akili Ramsess who is executive director of the National Press Photographers Association, confirmed her son’s death in an Instagram post, writing that her two granddaughters Sundari, 13, and Fujibo, who was just 8 weeks old, also died.
In a separate post two days later, Akili wrote that her 10-year-old grandson Kisasi had succumbed to his injuries from the crash after being hospitalized on life support.
“Kisasi Adebayo joins his father Taraja and sisters Sundari and Fujibo on their journey,” Akili wrote Saturday. “May God bless all their souls. You all will be missed.”
Ramsess’ other two daughters survived the crash.
“All who knew and met him know how special Taraja was,” Akili wrote in the post Thursday. “He had a deep capacity for love and loved his children more than all. He loved his martial arts, motorcycles and all things related to filmmaking.”
Ramsess worked as a stuntman, actor and martial artist on a number of movies, including “Avengers: End Game,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever,” “Creed III,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”
“Taraja. Regal. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of him. He walked like a king. And to me, always acted like one. He was a part of our crew family at ARRAY. He left us last night forever in a way that makes the hearts of all who knew him break into a million pieces,” film director Ava DuVernay, who was a friend and had worked with Ramsess, wrote in a post on Instagram.
“Taraja. His name is like music. We will continue to sing it. Bless his soul. Bless his memory. Bless his loved ones and the many comrades he leaves here as he journeys on,” she wrote.
