Taraja Ramsess, ‘Black Panther’ stuntman, dies with three of his children in car crash
By Lisa Respers France, CNN
Atlanta, GA (CNN) — Taraja Ramsess, a stuntman, actor and martial artist known for his work on the “Black Panther” and “Avengers” movies, is being mourned after he and three of his children were killed as a result of a car crash in Georgia last week.
He was 41.
Atlanta TV station WSB-TV reported that the crash occurred just before midnight on Halloween after the vehicle Ramsess and his children were traveling in collided with a tractor trailer that had broken down in the left lane of an exit off the interstate.
His mother, Akili Ramsess, a photojournalist who is executive director of the National Press Photographers Association (NPPA), announced his death and that of two of his daughters in an Instagram post.
“My beautiful, loving, talented son Taraja @chop.saki, along with two of my grand babies, his 13 yo daughter Sundari and his 8-week old newborn daughter Fujibo, were killed the previous night in a horrific traffic accident,” she wrote.
She also wrote that two of Ramsess’ daughters survived the accident, with his three-year-old, Shazia, being hospitalized with his 10-year-old son, Kisasi, who she wrote was on life support.
In a subsequent post, she shared that Kisasi had also died.
His long-time friend and X3 Sports trainer Tony Tucci told WSB-TV, “When I first heard about it, I broke down. I had to sit down.”
“He was always a family man,” Tucci said. “They would come and sit and watch him train, and they would jump in and start training too.”
Famed director Ava DuVernay was also a friend and posted about the loss on her Instgram account.
“My goodness, did he love his children. A happy, whole love. Beautiful to behold,” she wrote. “He loved making movies and TV too. Held many positions over the years. Immersing himself in all aspects of the craft.”
Ramsess’ credits include “Avengers: End Game,” “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” “Creed III,” “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire” and “She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.”
CNN has reached out to Marvel Studios for comment.
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