John Amos‘ daughter Shannon has revealed she learned about her father’s death through the media.
“We are devastated and left with many questions about how this happened 45 days ago, learning about it through the media like so many of you,” Shannon Amos wrote in a caption to a post on her official Instagram account.
Amos, best known for playing the patriarch James Evans Sr. on Good Times, died in Los Angeles on Aug. 21 at 84. His death, from natural causes, was announced by his son K.C. on Oct. 1.
Shannon Amos added on Instagram, “This should be a time of honoring and celebrating his life, yet we are struggling to navigate the wave of emotions and uncertainties surrounding his passing. Still, there is some semblance of peace in knowing my father is finally free.”
The Hollywood Reporter, in a November 2023 feature, pulled back the veil on the acrimonious battle between Amos’ children as they fought each other over their father’s care and his legacy, with Shannon Amos publicly accusing her brother K.C. of elder abuse, a claim he denied.
In that November story, Shannon Amos, an entertainment executive turned medicinal healer, told THR she supplied extensive documentation to law enforcement agencies in Colorado and New Jersey to investigate her claims of K.C.’s elder abuse, that over time her brother consolidated authority over their father and his affairs, as well as isolating him from members of his inner circle: “This has not only affected me but his grandchildren, his nieces, people he’s worked with and friends he’s had for decades.”
Shannon Amos contended that her brother had impersonated their father in communications, disregarded his medical needs, mishandled his finances, and exploited and eroded his legacy — all of which her brother rejected.
K.C., who has been developing a documentary about his father titled America’s Dad, told THR that his sister had engaged in a baroque crusade of character assassination in the hope of making him seem, as he puts it, “unfit.”
Shannon Amos’ full message on Instagram is below.
I am without words… Our family has received the heartbreaking news that my Dad, John Allen Amos, Jr., transitioned on August 21st.
We are devastated and left with many questions about how this happened 45 days ago, learning about it through the media like so many of you.
This should be a time of honoring and celebrating his life, yet we are struggling to navigate the wave of emotions and uncertainties surrounding his passing. Still, there is some semblance of peace in knowing my father is finally free.
My family and I deeply appreciate the outpouring of love, calls, and texts. Please continue to hold our family in your thoughts and prayers. Thank you.