Bill Cosby’s daughter Ensa has died from renal disease, a spokesman for the comedian said Monday. She was 44.
Spokesman Andrew Wyatt asked for prayers for the entertainer’s family and that they be given peace at this time. He didn’t provide any other details.
Throughout the series of months that Cosby appeared in court to fight numerous sexual assault charges in 2016, Ensa was one of the few people who publicly supported the comedian.
Last May, Ensa and her sister Erinn released audio statements in support of their famous father.
“I believe that racism has played a big role in all aspects of this scandal,” Ensa Cosby wrote.
“My father has been publicly lynched in the media,” she said. “My family, my young daughter, my young niece and nephew have had to stand helplessly by and watch the double standards of pretending to protect the rights of some, but ignoring the rights of others and exposing innocent children to such appalling accusations about someone they love dearly and who has been so loving and kind to them is beyond cruel.”
Cosby lost another of his five children in 1997 when his only son, Ennis, was murdered at the age of 27 during a failed robbery attempt as he was changing a tire on his car in the Sepulveda Pass. A 22-year-old man was later convicted and sentence to life in prison without parole.
Cosby is scheduled to appear in court next Monday for a pretrial hearing as his defense team deliberates over how many other accusers can testify at his retrial. In the wake of Ensa’s death, he could ask to postpone the pretrial hearing or waive his right to be in court for it.
“The Cosby Family thanks many people for their prayers for their beloved and beautiful Ensa, who recently died from renal disease,” the Cosby family said in a post on the comedian’s official Facebook page.
