The same day it was announced that John Amos, who starred on the sitcom Good Times and the miniseries Roots in the 1970s, had died in August at the age of 83, a group of concerned relatives and friends released a lengthy statement challenging the circumstances surrounding his death.
“We refuse to rule out the possibility of foul play,” they said.
The statement was posted to Facebook early Tuesday evening, just hours after Belinda Foster, a woman identified as Amos’ publicist, confirmed his death. She supplied several outlets with a statement on behalf of Amos’ son, Kelly Christopher Amos, who called the veteran actor “a man with the kindest heart” and a “TV father” to many fans.
Foster said that Amos had died on Aug. 21 of natural causes, a claim backed up by a Los Angeles County death certificate obtained by TMZ on Wednesday, which showed that he had died of congestive heart failure.
But a contradictory narrative had already begun to emerge by then. In a tribute post on Instagram, Amos’ daughter, Shannon Amos, shared that her “devastated” family had been left “with many questions about how this happened 45 days ago.”
Shannon, an entertainment executive turned medicinal healer, according to The Hollywood Reporter, said that she had only learned of Amos’ death through media reports on Tuesday.
John Amos and daughter Shannon in Los Angeles.
John Sciulli/WireImage for Cure Autism Now via Getty Images
Shannon went into further detail on her Instagram Story, posting that “someone” had been in the hospital emergency room with her father the night he died, posing as his daughter.
“I’m his only daughter,” she went on. “We believe it was Belinda Foster the woman also posing as his publicist. He died alone without family.” She ended with an appeal to the public to share any information they might have on the matter, promising it would remain confidential.
Around that time, Amy Goudy, Amos’ goddaughter, posted a statement to Facebook she attributed to “the collective family and close friends of John Amos,” accusing not just Foster, but Kelly Christopher, known as K.C., and another man named Eugene Brummet of having “isolated” Amos from his loved ones over the past year.
“We fear he was likely cremated to avoid any potential investigation into the conditions surrounding his final days,” the statement read. The family alleged in their statement that K.C. had not notified any of them directly of Amos’ death, and that “critical questions that need answers” remained.
It was signed by Goudy and Shannon, as well as Amos’ granddaughter, brother, niece, son-in-law and his wife, best friend, and business manager.
Foster did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Wednesday.
John Amos (as James Evans, Sr.) and Esther Rolle (as Florida Evans) in the CBS television situation comedy ‘Good Times’ in 1977.
CBS Photo Archive via Getty Images
Shannon and K.C., a music video director and editor, have fought bitterly over their father’s care. Their behind-the-scenes war spilled over into public view last year after Shannon took her suspicions of elder abuse to the police. An investigation was closed earlier this year over lack of evidence.
Shannon told The Hollywood Reporter last November that she knew what the family feud looked like to outsiders. “Seventies sitcom star in trouble when his bipolar, drug-addicted son exploits him on TikTok and his ayahuasca shaman daughter comes to the rescue,” she said. “That’s what it looks like. It’s crazy.”
In the statement posted by Goudy, Amos’ family alleged that K.C. “prevented access to him, controlled and monitored his calls and severed ties” with Shannon and other members of the family.
All the while, K.C. posted jocular videos to TikTok showing him and his father criss-crossing the country together in a manner reminiscent of what The Hollywood Reporter called “a buddy comedy.” This carefully-controlled image belied a “far more complex” reality, the family statement said.
“Our father suffered from dementia, and KC often gave John verbal prompts to create a narrative on social media that was not reflective of the truth,” it continued. “We were deeply concerned that our father may have been neglected and isolated during his final days.”
They said they believed that Amos had been deliberately isolated and, after his death, cremated in order to “alter potential wills and collect life insurance or other benefits.”
Shannon Amos and Amy Goudy did not immediately respond to requests for further information.
