Rickey Smiley revealed on Sunday that his eldest child, son Brandon, has died at age 32.
“I lost my oldest son #BrandonSmiley this morning,” the comedian captioned an Instagram video taken at an airport over the weekend.
“I’m okay, but please pray for my son’s mother Brenda, his siblings and his daughter Storm,” the actor, 54, continued.
In the footage, Smiley noted that he was “on the way to … Birmingham” to mourn his son.
The “Ricky Smiley Morning Show” host, who did not share any details surrounding Brandon’s passing, noted that he now understands what his grandfather experienced losing a child.
“Now I see … why he felt the way he felt,” Rickey explained. “My granddaddy went through this s–t with my dad and somehow, here I am going through the same thing my grandparents went through. So just pray for our family.”
The reality star’s announcement came two years after his daughter, Aaryn, was shot multiple times in a road rage incident while waiting at a red light on her way to Whataburger.
“Today could have been different,” the “Ricky Smiley For Real” star told his YouTube subscribers after the July 2020 shooting. “I’m lucky [my daughter] is still living.”
Later that same month, Aaryn spoke about surviving the random act of gun violence on her dad’s show.
“I’m happy to be alive,” the Baylor University student said at the time. “I’m praying for those that have actually had to give their life to gun violence and died because of it.”
Celebrity deaths 2023: Actors, singers and stars we lost this year
The then-19-year-old added that she was “thankful” for her boyfriend for quickly getting her to the hospital, where she received a blood transfusion and underwent surgery.
The shooting led to Aaryn experiencing panic attacks, with “loud noises or popping sounds making” her cry.
“The mental aspect of all this is really scary,” she wrote via Instagram Stories. “Hopefully my mental increases with my physical.”
