‘Cosby Show’ Alum Keshia Knight Pulliam Shares Heartfelt Tribute to Costar Malcolm-Jamal Warner

Keshia Knight Pulliam is honoring her late Cosby Show costar Malcolm-Jamal Warner after his death at age 54.

“A week ago I lost my big brother but I gained an angel… I love you… I miss you… We got our girls. ❤️,” the 46-year-old actress captioned an Instagram video shared Sunday, July 27.

Knight Pulliam included a video of Warner playing a concert at City Winery in Atlanta, as well as a brief clip of two young girls — presumably the pair’s daughters — walking with a horse.

Knight Pulliam also took to her Instagram Story with a message for her followers. “Thank you for every text call and all of the love that you have sent my way… I’ve just needed a moment… ❤️,” she wrote.

News broke on July 21 that Warner died following an accidental drowning in Costa Rica. The Costa Rican Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) later confirmed that the actor’s autopsy was completed, with his cause of death ruled as “asphyxia due to submersion.” He is survived by his mother, wife and daughter.

According to Elberth León, head of the Tourist Police for Costa Rica’s Atlantic region, Warner was attempting to save his 8-year-old daughter when he drowned. “Both were dragged by the current,” León shared with Us Weekly exclusively on Thursday, July 24. “They were bathing together and were caught by a rip current. Obviously, as a father, he fought for his daughter, but the current in that area is very strong, and they couldn’t accomplish the objective.”

Warner’s daughter made it back to shore safely with the help of bystanders. León told Us that Warner was pulled out of the water by Red Cross lifeguards and a rescuer from the Caribbean Guard, but he showed no vital signs. CPR was performed before Warner was pronounced dead at the scene. (A second man was transported to a local clinic in critical condition but has since been released.)

Warner is best known for playing Bill Cosby‘s onscreen son Theo Huxtable on The Cosby Show, which aired from 1984 to 1992. The sitcom also gave Knight Pulliam her breakout role as Rudy Huxtable and starred Phylicia Rashad, Lisa Bonet, Tempestt Bledsoe, Geoffrey Owens and more.

Shortly after Warner’s death made headlines, Cosby, 88, remembered working with the young actor in a statement shared via his rep.

“This reminds me of the call I got when I was taping The Cosby Show and I got a call saying that my son, Ennis, had been murdered,” the statement began on July 21. “It’s just devastating.”

Cosby noted that he and Warner kept in touch through the years and had spoken “three weeks” before the fatal accident. “Malcolm was changing the world, humanizing the world through his acting, his music, his poetry and even his new podcast,” the statement continued. “You never heard anything negative about the child actors from The Cosby Show. No drugs, no alcohol, none of that. Even though I was their TV dad, I never stopped being their father figure.”

Fellow Cosby Show alums have shared their own heartfelt tributes to Warner in the wake of his death, including Raven-Symoné, who played Olivia Kendall on later seasons of the sitcom.

“Words cannot describe the pain and the sadness and surprise that I feel with the recent loss of MJW,” she said via Instagram on July 22. “He was the big brother, he was a beacon, he was one of the most multifaceted, talented men. So gentle, and my heart and soul and hugs and kisses go out to his daughter and his wife and his mother.”

She continued, “He gave the best advice, he gave the best hugs and his smile will always be a huge, bright f***ing white smile in my head forever. I love you, and I know you’re watching over all of us now. Bye, Malcolm.”