American actor-director Regina King’s only son Ian Alexander Jr. died by suicide at the age of 26. Confirming the tragic incident, the actress shared a statement on Friday that read, “Our family is devastated at the deepest level by the loss of Ian. He is such a bright light who cared so deeply about the happiness of others. Our family asks for respectful consideration during this private time. Thank you.”
As quoted by various publications, Regina had once said about her son in 2007, “You don’t know what unconditional love is. You may say you do, but if you don’t have a child, you don’t know what that is. When you experience it, it’s the most fulfilling [thing] ever.”
A decade later, in a 2017 interview, she revealed that they got matching tattoos on The View. “We were taking Kabbalah classes. He said, let’s choose three [designs] each and not tell each other which ones they are and whichever one is matching, that’s the one we’re going to get tattooed — and we both chose unconditional love,” she had said at that time.
Moreover, a couple of weeks ago, she had shared her son’s new track on her Instagram handle and asked her followers to listen to it. She wrote, “Now listening to “Green Eyes” @desdunemjv said he’d quit smoking if he gets a million streams….Maaaan Listen…I got this jam on repeat! Link in my bio.”
Ian’s last post with Regina was on her birthday. He had written a long note dedicated to her and called her the ‘real superhero.’ Sharing their photo, he had written, “Happy birthday to my co, so extremely proud of you and inspired by your love, artistry, and gangsta! To be able to watch you take this lifetime by its neck and make it yours is something i will forever be grateful for. But to have you as my mother is the greatest gift I could ask for. To be all that you are while always having the time to be there, love and support me unconditionally is truly remarkable.”
He concluded, “The whole marvel universe ain’t got shit on you, your the real superhero! Love you mom! This day and everyday YO DAY!!”
