Malcolm-Jamal Warner was swimming with his 8-year-old daughter, who was rescued, when he drowned

Malcolm-Jamal Warner swimming with his 8-year-old daughter when he drowned near Cocles Beach in Costa Rica, police confirmed.

Details of the tragic incident

Warner, 54, was caught in a powerful rip current off the Caribbean coast of Limon province, according to authorities.

Surfers nearby spotted the actor and his daughter struggling in the water and rushed to assist. One surfer used a board to rescue the child, while a volunteer lifeguard brought Warner and another surfer to shore.

Emergency responders administered CPR for 45 minutes, but Warner was pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

An autopsy conducted by Costa Rica’s Forensic Pathology Department confirmed Warner’s cause of death as accidental asphyxiation by submersion.

Both the rescued daughter and the assisting surfers survived the incident without serious injury, officials reported.

Malcolm-Jamal Warner’s love for his daughter and family

Warner’s daughter and wife’s identity has not been disclosed, vowing to keep his private life separate from his professional life.

Though he kept his family out of the public eye, Warner often spoke about the profound impact fatherhood had on him. “You have absolutely no idea,” he once wrote alongside a photo with his daughter. “A love so profound that even a poet can’t find the words to describe it.” He described her as a “special spirit” and said he often found himself staring at her in awe, wondering where she came from.

In a 2025 podcast interview, Warner shared, “If I’m going to have a kid, this is the person I would want to have it with.” He added that even if he and his wife weren’t together romantically, she would still be the person he’d want to raise a child with. “They are the best parts of my life,” he said of his wife and daughter, “the best decisions I’ve ever made.”

Warner’s decision to keep their identities private was rooted in love and protection. “She has the rest of her life for that life,” he said of his daughter. “Right now I just want her to BE.”