‘Black Panther’ Stuntman Taraja Ramsess Killed In A Car Crash With Three Of His Children

Stuntman, actor and martial artist Taraja Ramsess was killed in a car crash in Georgia along with three of his children.

Ramsess, who was 41, is best known for his work on the Black Panther and Avengers movies.

Atlanta TV station WSB-TV reported that the crash occurred just before midnight on Halloween when the vehicle Ramsess and his children were in collided with a tractor-trailer that had broken down in the left lane of an exit off the interstate.

Ramsess’ mother, Akili Ramsess, photojournalist and executive director of the National Press Photographers Association, announced the death of her son and two of his daughters in an Instagram post.

Next to a series of photos of her son and grandchildren, Akili wrote: “My beautiful, loving, talented son Taraja @chop.saki, along with two of my grandbabies, his 13 yo daughter Sundari and his 8-week old newborn daughter Fujibo, were killed the previous night in a horrific traffic accident.” She continued that his other two children survived, with his son Kisasi, 10, on life support and his 3-year-old daughter Shazia hospitalized.

On Saturday, Akili wrote that Kisasi had died. Shazia survived the crash, along with an unidentified 15-year-old girl.

Director Ava DuVernay, who worked with Ramsess at her distribution company ARRAY, also posted a tribute on Instagram.

She described Ramsess as “Regal.”

“That’s the word that comes to mind when I think of him. He walked like a king. And to me, always acted like one,“ she said.

Alongside a series of photos, she wrote, “My goodness, did he love his children. A happy, whole love. Beautiful to behold… He loved making movies and TV too. Held many positions over the years. Immersing himself in all aspects of the craft.”

Ramsess started as a set dresser and worked on films such as Lawless (2011) and The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013), as well as shows like The Vampire Diaries and The Walking Dead.

He began stunt work a decade ago, and his credits include Black Panther (2018), Avengers: Infinity War (2018), What Men Want (2019), Avengers: Endgame (2019), The Suicide Squad (2021), Black Adam (2022) and They Cloned Tyrone (2023).