By Genoa Barrow | OBSERVER Senior Staff Writer

Some led their lives in the public eye, giving us moments and memories to talk about for years to come. Others were only known to the masses because of their violent ends. From elders and entertainers to victims of mass shootings and other violence, the Black community saw an exceptional amount of loss this year. As the year ends, The OBSERVER takes a moment to reflect and acknowledge a few of those who left us in 2023.

JANUARY

Missing Concord teen Damond Lazemby Jr. was found dead along Highway 4 on Jan. 1 after apparently being struck by a hit and run driver. Lazemby was just 19.

Musician Fred White died Jan. 2. White, 67, was a former drummer with Earth, Wind & Fire and brother to longtime lead singer Verdine White.

Tap dance pioneer Arthur Duncan died Jan. 4. Duncan, 89, appeared on “The Betty White Show” in 1954, making him the first African American to be a regular on a television variety show. He also danced on “The Lawrence Welk Show” from 1964 to 1982.

Monty Maxwell, who helped locals realize their dream of homeownership, died Jan. 4 from complications of a stroke. Maxwell, 54, was a loan officer and branch manager for Guild Mortgage and owned his own business, Moneywell Mortgage Group. He previously served as a football coach at Inderkum High School.

Gordy Harmon, a founding member of the R&B group The Whispers, died at his Los Angeles home Jan. 5. Harmon left the group in 1973 due to an injury. Harmon was 79.

Andrea Thompson, the mother of Cleveland Cavaliers power forward and former Sacramento King Tristan Thompson, died of a heart attack Jan. 5 at her home in Toronto. She was 53.

Connecticut state Rep. Quentin Williams was killed by a wrong-way driver Jan. 5, just hours after his swearing-in. Months later, an investigation found that while not at fault, Williams, 39, was speeding and that he and the other driver were drunk.

Sacramento native Tyre Nichols, 29, died Jan. 10 after being beaten by Memphis police officers three days prior during a traffic stop. Ironically, those officers were part of a unit called SCORPION, which stands for Street Crimes Operations to Restore Peace in Our Neighborhoods. The skate park in Natomas Nichols once frequented was renamed in his memory.

Oakland-born opera singer Autris Paige died Jan. 12 after a brief illness. He was 84. Page appeared on Broadway as Walter Lee In “A Raisin in the Sun” and on recordings of “Porgy and Bess” and “X, The Life and Times of Malcolm X.”

Helen Davis, who fans of her viral TikTok videos knew her as Ms. Holla or Grandma Holla, passed away Jan. 14 at age 97.

Former “American Idol” contestant C.J. Harris died of a heart attack Jan. 14. Harris, 31, competed on season 13 and finished sixth in the singing competition.

Roslyn Pope, who led civil rights protests as a student at Spelman College in Atlanta, died Jan. 19. Pope was 84. She is known for writing the manifesto “An Appeal for Human Rights,” with civil rights leader Julian Bond in 1960.

Major League Soccer player Anton Walkes died in a boating accident Jan. 19. Walkes, a native of England, played for Charlotte FC at the time of his death. He was 25.

Pvt. Abdul N. Latifu, of the Bronx, New York, died on an Alabama military base Jan. 21. Pvt. Latifu, 21, was there for a training course. Officials say he died after an altercation with another soldier he was rooming with.

Keenan Anderson, 31, died Jan. 23 after being detained and tased by Los Angeles police officers following a potential hit-and-run. Anderson, a cousin of Black Lives Matter co-founder Patrisse Cullors, was visiting L.A. from Washington, D.C. where he was a high school teacher.

Pioneering Oakland rapper and songwriter Dangerous Dame passed away Jan. 25. Born Damon Edwards, the rapper was known for using his music to speak on issues Black people faced in East Oakland. He was part of fellow Oakland rapper Too Short’s group the Dangerous Crew and often collaborated with other Bay Area notables including Spice 1, Mac Dre and Master P.

Former NFL linebacker Jessie Lemonier died Jan. 26. Lemonier, 25, played for the L.A. Chargers and the Detroit Lions before signing with the United States Football League.

Patrick Preyer, a former surgical nurse at Kaiser South, died Jan. 26. Preyer was 67 and appeared in The OBSERVER with his wife Carla in 2021 as she shared his journey with Lewy body dementia and how important it is for African Americans to advocate for proper health diagnoses.

Education trailblazer Dr. Rex Fortune passed away Jan. 29, just four days after his 81st birthday. Dr. Fortune was one of the region’s first African American superintendents and went on to co-found the Fortune School of Education charter school system, created to help eliminate the African American achievement gap.

French actor Adama Niane died Jan. 29. Niane was 56 and his credits included starring in the Netflix series, “Lupin.”

Brandon Smiley, the 32-year-old son of comic and radio personality Rickey Smiley, died of a fentanyl overdose Jan. 29. The comic said his son struggled with addiction and was trying to get help at the time of his passing.

Charlie Thomas, a member of the classic R&B group the Drifters, died of liver cancer in Bowie, Maryland, on Jan. 31. Thomas, 85, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame with other members in 1988. Their hit songs included “There Goes My Baby,” “Up on the Roof,” and “Under the Boardwalk.” Thomas, a tenor, performed with a version of the group until the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020.

FEBRUARY

A 40-year-old Jackson, Mississippi, man, Marrio Moore was beaten to death Feb. 2, wrapped in a tarp and left on a neighborhood street. Moore’s body remained in the morgue, unclaimed for months, before he was buried in a pauper’s field by prison inmates in mid-July. Moore’s family didn’t learn of his death until October upon reading a news article about local homicide victims. He was buried the same day, in the same fashion and at the same gravesite as another Black man, Dexter Wade. Both families are now being represented by nationally prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump.

As hip-hop celebrated its 50th anniversary, the culture mourned one of its own as Trugoy the Dove, a founding member of the group De La Soul, who died of apparent congestive heart failure Feb. 11. Born David Jude Jolicoeur, the rapper was 54. The group’s hits include “Me, Myself and I,” “Stakes Is High” and “Buddy.”

Zandra I. Flemister, the first Black woman hired by the U.S. Secret Service in the early 1970s, died Feb. 21 after battling Alzheimer’s. She was 71. Flemister faced a great deal of discrimination, but stayed with the Secret Service for four years to help encourage other Black women to follow in her footsteps. She later worked for the U.S. State Department as a foreign service officer. She was a part of a 2000 class-action discrimination lawsuit alleging discrimination within the Secret Service. That case was settled seven years later for $24 million.

RELATED: Gone But Not Forgotten 2022

Lorenzo “Lo” Jelks, Atlanta’s first Black TV reporter, died Feb. 24. Jelks, 83, was hired by WSB in 1967 and reported news there until 1976. He was inducted into the Atlanta Press Club Hall of Fame in 2022.

Sacramento artist Don Price passed away Feb. 26 at age 85. Price was an artist and illustrator who served in the Air Force.

Carol Ann Jones, the beloved mother of local creative and entrepreneur Cleo Cartel, passed away Feb. 28 at age 75. Cartel sadly passed away six months later.

MARCH

Jazz great Wayne Shorter died in Los Angeles on March 2. Shorter, 89, performed with fellow greats Art Blakey and Miles Davis before co-founding his own band, Weather Report. Shorter was a 12-time Grammy winner.

Dexter Wade, 37, died in Jackson, Mississippi, on March 5 after being struck by an off-duty police officer and buried in a pauper’s field without notification to his family, who had reported him missing. Wade’s mother wasn’t informed of his death until August. She had his body exhumed and nationally prominent civil rights attorney Ben Crump ordered an independent autopsy, seeking to prove a police cover-up. The pathologist reportedly found several forms of identification in the man’s front pants pocket. Police said they had no way of identifying Wade and therefore couldn’t inform anyone of his death.

Sean Lampkin, who was cast by friend Martin Lawrence to play bar owner Nipsey on his hit sitcom, died March 7. Lampkin, 54, also appeared in several Lawrence-led films such as “Bad Boys,” “Big Mama’s House” and “Life.”

Former NFL wide receiver and Hall of Famer Otis Taylor passed away in Houston on March 9 after battling Parkinson’s disease and dementia. Taylor, 80, Played for the Kansas City Chiefs. His family was among those filing lawsuits against the NFL over player health issues.

NBA Hall of Famer Willis Reed died in Houston on March 10. Reed, 80, was a standout player for the New York Knicks and went on to become a coach at the university level as well as a coach and general manager in the NBA. He once served as an assistant with the Sacramento Kings.

Beloved Sacramento pastor Rev. Curtis Mitchell passed away March 12. Dr. Mitchell, 84, led Antioch Progressive Church for 38 years. As a community advocate he also worked continuously to help find solutions for some of the most pressing issues facing local Blacks such as HIV/AIDS, affordable housing and gang violence.

Former NBA player Felton Spencer died March 12 at age 55. Spencer played for the Minnesota Timberwolves, Utah Jazz, Golden State Warriors, San Antonio Spurs and New York Knicks before retiring in 2002.

Prolific film and television actor Lance Reddick died in Southern California on March 17. Reddick, 60, was best known for portraying police officer Cedric Daniels on “The Wire,” an HBO crime drama that was set in his native Baltimore. His résumé included roles in the “John Wick” films, “One Night in Miami,” “Sylvie’s Love,” “White House Down,” and “Angel Has Fallen.”

Edward G. Gardner, the Chicago-based founder of Soft Sheen hair products, died March 20 at age 98. Gardner also was a philanthropist and activist supporting causes aimed at ending gun violence. He co-founded the organization Black on Black Love in the late 1980s to promote anti-violence and uplift the community. Gardner sold Soft Sheen to non-Black beauty brand L’Oreal in 1998.

Kenneth Brown, president of the El Camino Community College District board of trustees, died March 23. Brown, 54, previously led the CSU Dominguez Hills board of trustees. He also was an aerospace industry pioneer, working as an engineer for three decades, including a stint with NASA. 

Claybourne Evans Jr., CEO of Rubicon Brand Entertainment, one of Atlanta’s top talent agencies, died March 24. Evans also was a vice president at Grand Hustle Records; his clients included T.I., Lil Duval and Travis Scott.

Randall Robinson, the lawyer and activist who founded the Washington, D.C.-based advocacy organization TransAfrica, died in Saint Kitts on March 24. Robinson, 81, worked to end apartheid and fought for Haitian civil rights.

Groundbreaking Black animator Leo D. Sullivan died of heart failure March 25 at age 82. Sullivan also was a designer, writer and director who worked on the original “Fat Albert” cartoon, “Scooby Doo,” “Transformers,” “The New Adventures of Mighty Mouse,” “My Little Pony” and the iconic opening of “Soul Train.”

Mike Hill, 61, a beloved custodian at a parochial school in Nashville, Tennessee, was killed March 27 when an adult former student opened fire, killing six people including three 9-year-olds.

N’Neka Garland, an award-winning producer on the long-running soap opera “General Hospital,” died of a heart attack in Southern California on March 29. Garland, 49, worked for the daytime drama for 22 years.

APRIL

Howell Wayans, the patriarch of the funny family that includes Keenan Ivory, Damon, Marlon, Sean and Kim Wayans, died April 1. The elder Wayans was 86.

Booker Newberry III, the singer and keyboardist known for his 1983 song “Love Town,” died April 5 at age 67.

Twelve-year-old Se’Cret Pierce was struck by a stray bullet and killed in Connecticut on April 12. Ironically, Pierce was 2 when her father, Shane Oliver, 20, was fatally shot in 2012, just a few miles from where she died.

Award-winning jazz great Ahmad Jamal died in Massachusetts on April 16. Jamal was 92.

Otis Redding III, a musician and son of soul legend Otis Redding, died April 18. Redding, 59, was a toddler when his father, best known for the hit song “The Dock of the Bay,” died in a plane crash with members of the Bar-Kays in December1967. He went on to form a funk band, The Reddings, with his brother.

Rasheeda Williams, aka Koko Da Doll, a transgender woman featured in the documentary “Kokomo City,” was fatally shot April 18 in Atlanta. A 17-year-old was arrested in connection with her death.

Olympic gold medalist Frentorish “Tori” Bowie, was found dead in her Florida home on April 23. Bowie, 32, died of complications of childbirth – she was eight months pregnant. The champion sprinter, once the fastest woman in the world, won three medals at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games.

Legendary actor and activist Harry Belafonte died April 25. Belafonte, 96, had a stellar career that included memorable performances in such films as “Carmen Jones,” “Buck and the Preacher,” “Uptown Saturday Night,” “White Man’s Burden” and most recently, Spike Lee’s “BlacKkKlansman.” As a calypso singer, his song, “‎Day-O (The Banana Boat Song)” is still sung by music lovers the world over. Belafonte was a close friend and confidante to icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and, like many Black performers of his era, lent money and his celebrity status to the cause of civil rights and improving life for Blacks in America.

Former Harlem Globetrotter and Georgia high school basketball legend Larry “Gator” Rivers died April 29 at age 73 after losing his battle with cancer.

MAY

Olympic track and field runner Calvin Davis died May 1 at age 51. The Alabama native won a bronze medal in the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, competing in the men’s 400-meter hurdles.

Jordan Neely, a homeless man who was known as a Michael Jackson impersonator in New York subway stations, was choked to death by a white Marine veteran aboard a train May 1. Witnesses said Neely, 30, got into a yelling match with the fellow passenger who put him in a chokehold that lasted some 15 minutes. Rev. Al Sharpton delivered Neely’s eulogy.

Lance Blanks, who played for the Detroit Pistons and Minnesota Timberwolves before becoming an executive with the Phoenix Suns and an analyst for ESPN, died by apparent suicide May 5 at age 56.

Vida Blue, the award-winning pitcher who helped the Oakland A’s to three straight World Series titles in the 1970s, died May 5. Blue, 73, also played for the San Francisco Giants. Beyond the diamond, Blue worked as a baseball analyst for NBC Sports Bay Area.

Grover “Deacon” Jones died May 7. Jones, 89, was a first baseman and pinch hitter for the Chicago White Sox in the 1960s. He went on to work as a coach, manager and scout.

Sacramento’s Clarence Williams, a nationally recognized leader in small business development, died May 8. Williams, 75, was a founding member of the Sacramento Black Chamber of Commerce and served as its president from 1996-1998. He also led the California Capital Financial Development Corporation as president and CEO from 1982-2019.

Local community advocate and writer Angelina Woodberry passed away May 12 after several years on dialysis. Woodberry was an adult consumer advocate liaison with Cal Voices, representing the voice of mental health consumers in the Sacramento County Department of Behavioral Health. She also served on several boards and committees, including Sacramento County’s Commission on the Status of Women and Girls. Woodberry also was a member of the group Black Women Write.

The first Black mayor of Selma, Alabama, George P. Evans, died May 15. Evans also was the first Black school superintendent in Dallas County, Alabama, and Selma’s first Black city council president.

Football legend Jim Brown died May 18 at age 87. Brown played for the Cleveland Browns from 1957-1965 and is considered one of the greatest running backs in NFL history. As an actor, he starred in films such as “The Dirty Dozen,” “The Running Man,” “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka.” Off the field, he was an activist who often spoke out against racism and economic disparities in America. Brown founded the Amer-I-Can Foundation for Social Change, through which he helped incarcerated gang members in Los Angeles broker peace and rebuild their lives.

Actress Marlena Clark, who starred with Jim Brown in the 1972 film “Slaughter,” died the same day he did, May 18. She was 85. Clark, who also was a model, starred in 1970s-era films such as “Ganja & Hess,” “Enter the Dragon” and “Black Mamba.” She was best known for appearing as Lamont’s girlfriend on “Sanford and Son.”

Former 100 Black Men of Sacramento Inc. President Darryl Jenkins passed away May 21 at age 74. Jenkins was a retired AT&T executive, having served the company for nearly 34 years. He also worked for the Greater Sacramento Urban League and was a proud member of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity Inc.

An accomplished teacher whose career spanned nearly six decades, Gloria Ridgeway Blanchette passed away May 22 in Sacramento following a long illness. Blanchette was 91. Locally, she taught language arts and social studies at John Still and California middle schools for nearly 30 years. After “retirement” she went on to serve as a consultant for the California Department of Education. Blanchette was the lead author and editor of “Visions – A Career Guidance and Management Guide,” geared toward young Black males. She also was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority and the Sacramento Links Inc.

Saxophonist Floyd Newman, who was associated with Stax Records and was a member of the B.B. King Review and toured with Sam Cooke, died May 23. Newman was 91.

Sheldon Reynolds, a guitarist, singer and songwriter who performed with the funk band Sun, the Commodores and Earth, Wind & Fire, died May 23 at age 63.

RELATED: Gone But Not Forgotten 2021

William Edwards Lee III, the father of award-winning filmmaker Spike Lee, died May 24. Lee, 95, was a legend in his own right as a jazz musician and composer who worked with artists such as Duke Ellington, Billie Holiday, Aretha Franklin and Harry Belafonte. In addition to appearing in some of his son’s classic movies, Lee created soundtracks for some of his most popular films, including “She’s Gotta Have It,” “School Daze,” “Do the Right Thing” and “Mo’ Better Blues.”

Iconic “What’s Love Got to Do with It” singer Tina Turner died in her Switzerland home May 24. Turner, 83, famously overcame an abusive personal and professional relationship to become one of the most successful solo performers in music history. Turner wowed generations with hits such as “Proud Mary,” “Private Dancer,” “River Deep, Mountain High,” and “Better Be Good to Me.”

Soul jazz organist Reuben Wilson died of lung cancer in New York on May 26. Wilson, 88, was best known for his song “Got to Get Your Own” and remained active until he developed dementia in his 70s.

Anita Cornwell, the pioneering author “Black Lesbian in White America,” died May 27 after living with dementia. She was 99. Cornwell also was an activist and journalist, writing for such newspapers as the Philadelphia Tribune and the Philadelphia Evening Bulletin.

Actor John Beasley, 79, who played Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s father in the 2004 movie “Walking Tall,” died May 30. Beasley started in acting as an older man and quickly made up for lost time, appearing in countless films and TV series. His credits include “Brewster Place,” a spinoff of Oprah Winfrey’s mini-series “Women of Brewster Place,” “Missing Persons,” “CSI,” “Treme,” “Everwood,” “The Soul Man” and “The Mandalorian.” He appeared in such movies as “The Apostle,” “Untamed Heart,” “Losing Isaiah” and the 2022 remake, “Firestarter.”

Pioneering filmmaker Jessie Maple, 85, passed away in Atlanta on May 30. Maple’s 1981 film “Will” is credited with being among the first feature-length dramas created by a Black woman. Maple also was a writer for the “New York Courier” and studied filmmaking through the legendary Ossie Davis’ Third World Cinema and the National Education Television Training School, a short-lived public television program created to teach African Americans behind-the-scenes camera jobs to get into the union. Maple was the first Black woman admitted to the New York camera operators union.

Grant High School student athlete Billy Scott was shot and killed May 31. Scott, 18, was just hours from graduating. Scott played on the North Area school’s basketball team and on its championship football team. His family attended his graduation ceremony in his place. Police arrested a local 17-year-old in connection with the murder.

JUNE

Lifelong Sacramento resident Tricia Fontenette, 53, passed away in her home on June 2. Fontenette, who had previously worked in an administrative capacity with the State of California, had been most recently serving as a caretaker to her mother, Teresa. 

Terry Guilford Sr., a local musician and leader at Sacramento’s Wo’se Community Church of the African Way, died June 2 or 3. Guilford also was known by the African-centered name Tehuti, which in Egypt means “wisdom and knowledge.”

Dr. David Covin, professor emeritus of government and ethnic studies at Sacramento State, passed away June 3, he was 82. Dr. Covin taught government classes and helped found ethnic studies and Pan-African studies programs and was co-founder of the university’s Cooper-Woodson College Enhancement Program. Dr. Covin’s contributions reached beyond the campus. He helped create the Sacramento Area Black Caucus Inc., Sacramento Black Book Fair, Blue Nile Press, Congress of African Peoples’ convenings, the Black Parallel School Board and Sacramento’s first and only Black think tank, The Black Group.

Ray Lewis III, the son of Hall of Fame linebacker Ray Lewis, died of an overdose in his Florida home June 14. The local coroner found Lewis, 28, had a lethal mix of drugs including fentanyl, cocaine and methamphetamine in his system.

Sonia Starks, the first lady of Greater McGlothen Memorial Temple Church of God in Christ in Pittsburg, died June 24. Starks, 69, grew up a PK (pastor’s kid) in New York. In Sacramento she was an active member of the Progressive Church of God in Christ, where she was a beloved soloist and Sunday school teacher and held several leadership roles in service to the Lord.

Christine King Farris, the last living sibling of civil rights icon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. died June 29 at age 95. King Farris taught at her alma mater, Spelman College, for five decades. She also served as vice chair and treasurer of the King Center for Nonviolent Social Change.

Ray Craig, a former starting point guard for the Grant High Pacers, died June 30. Craig was 64.

JULY

Former professional basketball player Cecil M. Exum died of lung issues in Los Angeles on July 2, a month shy of his 61st birthday. Exum was drafted by the Denver Nuggets, but due to an injury, never played for the team. He went on to have a successful career in Australia.

Vicki Anderson, aka Myra Barnes, a soul singer who performed with the James Brown Revue, died July 3. Anderson was 83.

Patricia Roundtree, who was known locally as a “beacon of light, love and refuge,” died July 4 at age 76. Roundtree was the co-founder of For His Glory Church and was an active member of Sacramento Area Congregations Together. A community champion, she also participated in feedings, free clothing giveaways and efforts to stop the violence in Del Paso Heights.

Local veteran and celebrated centenarian Warren G.H. Tippie, aka Grandpa Tippie to many, died July 4. He would have turned 102 on Aug. 10.

Former professional football player Gene Gaines died July 6 at age 85. Gaines, a native of Watts, played as a defensive back in the Canadian Football League for 16 years and is a member of the Canadian Football Hall of Fame. During the 1980s, he coached for the Los Angeles Express of the USFL and the NFL’s Houston Oilers.

Chicago-based jazz trumpeter Oscar Brashear died July 7. Brashear, 78, worked with fellow greats like Count Basie, Quincy Jones, Sonny Rollins, B.B. King, Bobby Bland, Freddie Hubbard, Frank Sinatra, Earth, Wind & Fire, Carole King and Benny Carter.

Civil rights activist Catherine Burks-Brooks died July 7. Burks-Brooks, 83, was a Freedom Rider who traveled throughout the South by bus to challenge segregation. Burks-Brooks also participated in the Mississippi voter registration movement and co-edited the Mississippi Free Press from 1962 to 1963.

Women’s Basketball Hall of Famer Nikki McCray-Penson died July 7. McCray-Penson, 51, coached the Mississippi State women’s basketball team from 2020-2021. As a player, she starred in the now defunct American Basketball League and with the WNBA’s Washington Mystics. McCray-Penson won gold medals as part of the 1996 and 2000 U.S. women’s teams.

Mutulu Shakur, the stepfather of slain Bay Area rapper-actor Tupac Shakur, died July 7 a month before his 73rd birthday. Shakur, born Jeral Wayne Williams, was a member of the Black Liberation Army who was sentenced to 60 years in prison for involvement in a 1981 Brinks truck robbery that ended in a guard and two police officers being killed. In ailing health, Shakur was paroled in December 2022 after serving nearly 37 years in prison.

Local artist and art activist Marshall Dean Bailey died July 9 at age 69. His passing came just four days after the loss of his beloved mother, Yvonne Bailey. Marshall Dean Bailey co-founded the Kuumba Collective Art Gallery and was active in the Sacramento African American Art Collective. The gift shop at the Sojourner Truth African Heritage Museum was renamed in his honor.

JoAnn Watson, a Detroit-area pastor and media personality, died July 10 at age 72. Watson also enjoyed a career in public service, leading the Downtown Detroit YWCA, the National YWCA and its office of racial justice and the Detroit NAACP, the largest branch in the country. In 2016, Watson served on an advisory board for American Girl, charged with ensuring the historical accuracy and cultural authenticity of “Melody,” a Black doll that depicts a young girl growing up in Detroit during the civil rights movement.

Former Louisiana State University standout basketball player Danielle Ballard died July 16 after being struck by a vehicle. Ballard, 29, played guard for the Tigers and helped the team to NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 appearances from 2012-2015.

Elise Finch, a meteorologist with New York station WCBS, died July 16 after suffering a brain aneurysm. Finch was 51. The mentoring nonprofit G.O.O.D. for Girls Inc. has established a scholarship in her name for girls looking to pursue STEM careers.

Acclaimed music director Daniel Jones passed away July 20 at age 41. Jones acted as musical director for singer Janet Jackson’s Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show infamous for the “wardrobe malfunction.” More recently, he also worked on Mary J. Blige’s “Good Morning Gorgeous” and Beyoncé’s “Sorry” tours.

Philadelphia rapper YNG Cheese was shot and killed in a triple shooting July 20. The 25- year-old born Devin Spadey was the son of fellow rapper and podcaster Gillie Da Kid.

Local poet and storyteller Angela James passed away July 23 at age 68. James, a native of Trinidad, was the co-founder of Fenix Drum and Dance company. The all-ages-and-abilities group performed for local and visiting dignitaries and was featured at many community events. James also hosted events at the Sacramento Poetry Center, showcasing a diversity of talented artists.

AUGUST

New Jersey’s lieutenant governor, Sheila Oliver, died Aug. 1. Oliver, 71, was serving as acting governor while Gov. Phil Murphy was vacationing in Italy. Oliver previously served in the New Jersey Assembly, where she was the first woman of color to hold a statewide elected office in the Garden State.

Famed attorney and academic Charles Ogletree Jr. died Aug. 4 at age 70 after living with Alzheimer’s. Ogletree was the founder of Harvard Law School’s Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. As a professor, his students included future president and first lady Barack and Michelle Obama.

DJ Casper, the Chicago native who brought the world the “Cha Cha Slide,” a song and dance sensation, passed away Aug. 7. Born Willie Perry Jr., DJ Casper was 58.

Acclaimed photographer and author Roland Freeman died Aug. 7. His books included “Folkroots: Images of Mississippi Black Folklife,” “Southern Roads/City Pavements: Photographs of Black Americans” and “A Communion of the Spirits: African-American Quilters, Preservers, and Their Stories.”

Former pro football player Sean Russell Dawkins died Aug. 9 at age 52. Dawkins was a Cal Bear wide receiver in college and played nine NFL seasons for the Indianapolis Colts, New Orleans Saints, Seattle Seahawks and Jacksonville Jaguars.

Charles Avant, a music executive nicknamed “The Black Godfather” for his influence in the industry, died Aug. 13. Avant, 92, was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2021. That same year, his beloved wife Jacqueline was murdered by a burglar in their Beverly Hills home.

Rapper Magoo died of an apparent heart attack Aug. 13 at age 50. The Virginia native was born Melvin Barcliff and was known for such songs as “Up Jumps Da’ Boogie” and “Luv 2 Luv U” and collaborations with fellow hitmakers Timbaland and Missy Elliott.

Multitalented creative and entrepreneur Cleo Cartel passed away Aug. 14 after a courageous two-year battle with cervical cancer. She was 51. Cartel, who also went by the African-centered name Sfensa Ariantch Shepsuaba, was a co-founder of the long-running Mahogany Poetry venue and ran several businesses and brands including Momma’s Market, Sage, Yummy Goodz and Urban Gypsy. A champion for self-sufficiency, Cartel hosted numerous local Marcus Garvey market events and festivals.

Award-winning actor Ron Cephas Jones died Aug. 19 after living with pulmonary issues. Jones, 66, was lauded for his role on the hit drama “This Is Us,” and his credits also included “Luke Cage,” “Looking for Alaska,” “Law & Order: Organized Crime,” and “Truth Be Told.” He also starred in films such as “He Got Game” and “Dolemite Is My Name.”

Angela Michelle Carr, 52, Jerrald Gallion, 29, and A.J. Laguerre, 19, were shot and killed at a Dollar General in Jacksonville, Florida, Aug. 26 by a self-proclaimed white supremist.

SEPTEMBER

Harris Wolobah, a 14-year-old in Worcester, Massachusetts, died Sept. 1, hours after eating a highly spicy tortilla chip as part of a viral challenge. The company that sold the chips later removed them from stores.

Julia Mae Saffold, the mother of Sharon Saffold, the former program manager for the Sacramento County Department of Health and Human Services’ Black Infant Health Program, died Sept. 3 at age 91. Saffold’s granddaughter, a local nurse, helped care for OBSERVER co-publisher Dr. William H. Lee before his 2019 passing. 

Writer Echo Brown died Sept. 16 at age 39. Brown authored two young-adult novels – “The Chosen One: A First-Generation Ivy League Odyssey,” published in 2022, and “Black Girl Unlimited: The Remarkable Story of a Teenage Wizard,” published in 2020. Her one-woman show, “Black Virgins Are Not for Hipsters,” debuted at The Marsh, a San Francisco theater, in 2015.

Irish Grinstead of the R&B group 702 died Sept. 16 after a battle with illness. She was 43. The trio was best known for their 1999 hit “Where My Girls At?” In 2021, Grinstead appeared with her sister and group member LeMisha on the reality show “BET Presents: The Encore,” in which they and other former members of “girl groups” came together to record an album in a month’s time. Irish’s twin sister, Orish, who sang backup for 702, died in 2008.

Marvalettes singer Katherine Anderson Schaffner died of heart failure Sept. 20 at age 79. The group had hits with songs like “Please Mr. Postman,” “Beechwood 4-5789,” and “Don’t Mess with Bill.”

Zoleka Mandela, granddaughter of the late anti-apartheid activist Winnie Mandela, died of breast cancer in Johannesburg on Sept. 25, Mandela, 43, was an activist and a writer.

OCTOBER

Keith Jefferson, an actor who starred alongside Jamie Foxx and Samuel L. Jackson in the 2012 film “Django Unchained,” died of cancer Oct. 5. Jefferson, 53, also appeared in Quentin Tarantino’s 2015 film “The Hateful Eight.”

Hughes Van Ellis, one of the last known survivors of the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre, died in Denver on Oct. 6 at age 102. Ellis was a baby at the time of the now infamous massacre in which a deputized white mob obliterated the area then known as Black Wall Street after a white woman falsely accused a Black teen of trying to rape her. Ellis served in the Army in World War II and dedicated his life to demanding justice for the victims of the massacre.

Randolph Isley, 84, of the Isley Brothers died Oct. 10. The group formed in Cincinnati in 1954 and went on to success with such songs as “It’s Your Thing,” “That Lady” and “Fight the Power,” which Randolph co-wrote.

Gail O’Neill, an elite fashion model turned television journalist, died Oct. 10 at age 61. O’Neill was an original correspondent for “The Early Show” on CBS and also worked for CNN and HGTV.

Georgia man Leonard Cure was shot and killed by a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop Oct. 16. Ironically, Cure, 57, was released from prison in 2000 after a wrongful conviction for armed robbery was overturned. He’d spent 16 years and got out with the help of the Innocence Project.

Isiah “Ike” Thomason, a local veteran of the U.S. Air Force who worked for the Army Corps of Engineers for 20 years, died Oct. 19. Thomason, 86, was a respected community elder and active member of New Testament Baptist Church and later Faith Fellowship Community Church.

Tasha Butts, who played for the WNBA’s Minnesota Lynx, died of breast cancer Oct. 23. Butts, 41, was set to begin working as coach of Georgetown’s women’s basketball team at the time of her passing.

Veteran actor Richard Roundtree died Oct. 24. Roundtree, 81, was the bad motha… best known for his portrayal of the blaxploitation-era hero John Shaft in a series of films that began in 1971. Roundtree died of pancreatic cancer. He also was a survivor of breast cancer and advocated for more education on its occurrence among men.

Aaron Spears, a Grammy-nominated drummer who played for artists such as Usher, Lil Wayne, Chrisette Michelle, Chaka Khan and Ariana Grande, died Oct. 30 at age 47.

NOVEMBER

Callie Carney, the first Black woman on the Sacramento City Council, passed away Nov. 4, after living with Alzheimer’s for several years. Carney, 88, Carney represented District 5 from 1975-1977, having been appointed to the role after Phil Isenberg became mayor. Carnie acted as executive director of the Women’s Civic Improvement Center from 1981-1996, was a charter member of the Sacramento Valley Section of the National Council of Negro Women and was involved with groups such as the Greater Sacramento Urban League, Black American Political Association of California, the Sacramento NAACP, Birthing Project USA, the California Homemakers Association, and the Oak Park Neighborhood Council.

Tyus Hutton died Nov. 6 after months on life support. Hutton, 25, originally was booked into the Sacramento County Jail on May 29 on charges including rape, battery and burglary. He was taken to Sutter Medical Center on Aug. 23 and declared brain dead. The Hutton family, who says he lived with mental issues, didn’t learn where he was or how he was until six days later. His parents joined local activists in demanding answers about his injuries and the lack of information. The sheriff’s office denied claims that deputies at the jail injured Hutton, saying his injuries were the result of a fight between him and another inmate.

Rapper C-Knight of the Long Beach-based group The Dove Shack died Nov. 7 of complications from a diabetes-related stroke. Knight, born Arnez Blo, was 52.

George “Funky” Brown, a drummer with the legendary group Kool & the Gang, died at his Los Angeles home Nov. 16 following a battle with lung cancer. Brown co-wrote some of Kool & The Gang’s biggest hits including “Jungle Boogie,” “Ladies Night,” “Too Hot,” “Celebration,” and “Cherish.”

Sarah Keys Evans, who was arrested in 1952 for refusing to yield her seat on a North Carolina bus to a white rider, died Nov. 16 at age 95. Keys Evans was a private in the Army at the time of her arrest. Her defiance came months before Rosa Parks sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Keys Evans was recently considered for a Congressional Gold Medal.

Singer Jean Knight died Nov. 21. Knight, 80, was best known for “Mr. Big Stuff,” the 1971 hit that became a classic.

Influential Detroit pastor Charles Gilchrist Adams died of pneumonia and cardiac arrest Nov. 29. Adams, 86, led the megachurch Hartford Memorial Baptist Church for 50 years and served as a professor at Harvard Divinity School from 2007-2012. During his career, he was lauded by Ebony magazine as one of the “15 Greatest Black Preachers” and one of the “100 Most Influential Black Americans.”

Blaize Pearman, the younger brother of actress and talk show host Raven Symone, died sometime in November after a courageous battle with colon cancer. Pearman was 31.

DECEMBER

Tennessee teen Alegend Jones died in a hospital near Memphis on Dec. 1, after attorney Ben Crump says she was “body slammed” by a counselor from the group home where she lived. Jones, 17, was taken to the hospital for care and reportedly refused to undress in front of the two male counselors who transported her there. After returning to the group home, Jones was reportedly beaten by other counselors and required medical attention. She was placed on life support and later died of her injuries.

David McKnight, the actor who starred in such films as Robert Townsend’s “The Five Heartbeats” and “Hollywood Shuffle” and the cult classic “JD’s Revenge,” died of cancer in Las Vegas on Dec. 1. McNight was 87.

Douglas Martin, who shared his quest for a kidney donor with OBSERVER readers in 2019, passed away Dec. 5. Martin worked in environmental services at UC Davis Medical Center for 40 years before retiring in May 2017. He was the brother of local community champion Michelle Martin Neal.

Ellen Holly, who became the first Black actor in a leading role on a soap opera, died in the Bronx, New York, on Dec. 6 at age 92. Holly debuted on “One Life to Live” in 1968 and later starred in “Guiding Light.” She also appeared in the movies “10,000 Black Men Named George” and “School Daze.”

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Keisha Nash Whitaker, the ex-wife of Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, passed away Dec. 7. Keisha Whitaker, 51, also was an actor and producer, appearing in such movies as “Proud,” with the late Ossie Davis and “Blown Away,” the 1994 film on the set of which the former couple met.

“Peaky Blinders” actor Benjamin Zephaniah, 65, died Dec. 7, just two months after being diagnosed with a brain tumor.

Award-winning actor Andre Braugher, known for memorable appearances in such movies as “Glory,” “Get on the Bus” and “She Said,” died of cancer Dec. 12. Braugher, 61, also starred in such TV shows as “The Good Fight,” “Brooklyn Nine-Nine” and “Homicide: Life on the Street.”

Hall of Fame professional basketball player George McGinnis died of heart complications Dec. 14. McGinnis, 73, played for both the ABA and NBA for the Indiana Pacers, Philadelphia 76ers and Denver Nuggets.

African gospel singer Eric Pheli Moyo collapsed on stage during a concert and died of a stroke Dec. 20 at age 41. In 2008, Moyo, a native of Zimbabwe, performed with the Joyous Celebration choir and was the first winner of “Idols South Africa,” a version of “American Idol.”

Journalist and TV personality Bobby Rivers died on Dec. 26 at age 70. Rivers hosted “Top 5” on the Food Network and “Watch Bobby Rivers” on VH1. Recently, he talked about entertainment on his blog, “Bobby Rivers TV.”