Celebrity Death

Thomas Wells, famous for singing on a ton of talent competition shows including 'X Factor,' is dead ... TMZ has learned.

Thomas died earlier this month following an accident while working on the job at a tire manufacturing plant in Oklahoma ... according to his wife, Jessica Wells.

We're told part of Thomas' body was caught in a machine, described to us as an automatic conveyer belt type of machine which did not stop, and he was rushed to a nearby hospital in Idabel, OK.

Thomas' wife says he was then airlifted to a bigger hospital in Tyler, Texas ... because doctors thought specialists in Tyler might be able to help him.

Ultimately, we're told Thomas died in the hospital in Tyler back on November 13.

You may have seen Thomas singing his heart out on TV ... he appeared on "America's Got Talent" as well as "The Voice" and "The Winner Is" ... in addition to 'X Factor.'

Thomas got into music at an early age, teaching himself to play instruments by ear and singing choir at church and in school in Oklahoma. He mostly sang hymns and contemporary music.

His wife of 17 years is remembering him as a unique person who always had a smile on his face and tried to make people laugh. She says he would sometimes bust out singing and didn't mind the spotlight.

Thomas was 46.

Antwain Fowler -- the viral kiddo who famously asked "where we bout to eat at?" -- could soon have a restaurant opened in his honor ... that's the big plan from the late kid's mother.

Christina Burns, Antwain's mother, tells TMZ ... his GoFundMe was created in March during one of his many stays in the hospital and it's now raised $72,000, with $22k being donated since he passed away on Sunday. She wants to put the money towards keeping his legacy alive, in the form of a restaurant called, "Where We Bout To Eat At."

Antwain's mom says the $22k raised in the past few days will be put towards kickstarting the business, with the other $50k helping pay off Antwain's hospital bills and other family expenses. Christina says she will help create the menu, but needs help managing the other aspects of a restaurant. The menu will be versatile with seafood, chicken and other grub -- so you won't have to look much further when you're asked "where we bout to eat at?"

The viral sensation had a ton of catchphrases, which will be reflected on the menu ... for example, Antwain's mom is already planning some "You Have Cheese Like Me" mozzarella sticks.

After Antwain went viral, his mom says she tried starting a seafood truck biz ... but after mapping things out, she just didn't have the time to commit to getting the biz up and running because she was busy taking care of him and her other 3 children.

As we reported ... Antwain died Nov. 21 after fighting a rare autoimmune deficiency his mother says caused him to be consistently in and out of the hospital ever since he was 4 months old. He was only 6.

His mom is shedding more light on his death ... she says Antwain was home when she heard his ventilator sounding off an alarm. Typically, Antwain alerts his family when he's experiencing pain or has trouble breathing, but this time he was silent.

Antwain's mom says police and an ambulance responded to their home and attempted to resuscitate him, but had no luck ... he was taken to a hospital where doctors fought to keep him alive, but were ultimately unable to.

G-Eazy is suffering heartbreak on the toughest level, announcing his mom has died, and sharing a beautiful tribute to her with his fans.

The rapper, real name Gerald Earl Gillum, says his mother Suzanne Olmsted passed away, saying, "The shock still won't let me accept the feeling that I'll never get to hug you in person again. My queen, my hero, my everything… my mom."

He continues, "The tears won't stop. My eyes hurt, my face hurts, my body hurts, everywhere hurts. There's no safe place to hide and there's no way to lay, sit, or stand that doesn't hurt. The pain is enormous. But I know you're out of yours and that brings me peace.
I love you so much."

It's currently unclear how she died, but G-Eazy fans know what an important role she played in his personal life as well as his career ... often attending shows and even events with the rapper.

Then there's this, G-Eazy reveals his mom recently persuaded him to go to rehab for drugs and alcohol, writing, "I didn't realize the extent of just how worried you were about me until you sent me the hardest letter I've ever had to read… Going to treatment for alcohol and drugs was my decision but your letter was what ultimately persuaded me."

G-Eazy played at BottleRock Festival back in September and shared his mom was unable to attend, he did, however, call her on FaceTime during his set in a really awesome moment.

Young Dolph's death has spurred a huge interest in his girlfriend's business -- which, coincidentally, was already working to help people like herself who've lost loved ones to tragic violence.

Dolph's longtime partner, Mia, started a campaign last year after her brother was killed, called the Black Men Deserve to Grow Old campaign, operating under her Momeo clothing brand. Since YD's murder, her company has blown up exponentially.

A Momeo brand manager tells TMZ ... prior to Dolph's death, the Momeo shop page was seeing about 20 orders a day, but now the transactions range anywhere from 250 to 600 daily. We're told the sales boost is largely due to one new piece of merch ... a Young Dolph tribute hoodie.

Momeo is making the most of those through-the-roof numbers, aiming to boost its charitable arm ... the BMDTGO campaign.

The brand rep tells us they're raising money for families who fall victim to gun violence -- like Mia herself now has, twice -- and this spike in sales and traffic has benefited their goals to an unimaginable extent.

For instance, we're told their goal was to sell around 3,000 products by the end of the year -- with a third of the proceeds going directly to grieving families. The boom after Dolph's murder means Momeo will achieve that number in the next week.

BTW, this new higher profile for Mia's campaign is helping her get support from friends and strangers alike, including therapy service providers.

Another person featured in 'Tiger King' has died -- only this time, by suicide ... one which happened right in front of a family member, so say cops.

Former reptile dealer Jeff Johnson -- who made a brief appearance in episode 4 of 2020's 'TK' docuseries to talk Carole Baskin -- shot and killed himself in September, and did so in the immediate presence of his wife ... this according to the Oklahoma City Police Department.

Per the incident report, obtained by TMZ, Johnson was arguing with his spouse in their garage on Sept. 8 -- while their children were home as well -- and at one point, the man brought a Glock-style handgun up to his head ... and pulled the trigger.

Johnson's wife called 911 for attempted suicide, and when officers arrived ... they say he still had a pulse and was rushed to a hospital. Unfortunately, Johnson was pronounced dead upon arrival.

The cops note Johnson's wife said her husband had not suffered from any mental illness and had not experienced any prior attempted suicide -- so it's unclear why he did this.

Like we said, Jeff's time on 'Tiger King' was short-lived ... but memorable in that he explained the beef between Joe Exotic and Carole. Interestingly enough, Jeff and Joe are also said to be one-time pals turned foes. Story goes ... Jeff and Joe were cool in the past -- as they both worked in the exotic animals world -- but had a falling out once Jeff Lowe came into the picture. At that point, Jeff bashed them early and often ... and vice versa.

There's a report that Jeff's home was actually burned down during this feuding -- but it's unclear if his beef with Joe and JL are in any way connected. Jeff Lowe tells us that he was in Las Vegas at the time and denies any involvement.

Jeff was 58.

Antwain Fowler -- the kid who famously asked "where we about to eat at?" -- has died.

His official Instagram account confirmed the sad news Sunday, with a new post that seems to have been written by his mother, China. Her message reads, "The pain in my heart is like no other Why God!!!" Her caption was similar ... "Never in a million years My heart is out my chest!!!!"

An exact cause of death has yet to be revealed, but it appears his passing may be related to an illness he's been battling for a while now -- one that affected his immune system, no less. It's called autoimmune enteropathy ... which inhibits the body's ability to absorb nutrition.

According to a GoFundMe page started by his mother, Antwain has had to battle this since 2015 -- just a year after he was born. It looks like he's been in and out of hospitals for a majority of his young life ... and has been assisted with medical equipment along the way.

AF shot to internet stardom over the past couple of years with funny Instagram and YouTube posts that showcased his witty banter and big personality. Specifically, he'll perhaps be most remembered for the one 4 second clip of him in the back seat, asking what was on the menu that day.

There've been several other posts of his that have since gone viral -- but that one might top them all. He's gained hundreds of thousands of followers between his various profiles.

It sounds like Antwain recently underwent some sort of procedure to help him gain his muscle mass back, and his mom sounded hopeful he'd make a full recovery.

The mystery over who murdered Young Dolph may be one step closer to being solved -- because it looks like the cops have tracked down the getaway car in which the killer fled.

The vehicle was located Saturday in the Orange Mound neighborhood of South Memphis -- on the 1100 block of Bradley Street ... this according to a reporter with FOX13, who confirmed the news with local law enforcement officials, who believe they may have it.

Several different photos and videos have surfaced showing a white 2-door Mercedes Benz being towed out of a driveway of a residential home ... with neighbors looking on, and police surrounding the area. Per reports, the car appeared to be abandoned here -- and still intact.

At first glance ... the vehicle depicted in these clips certainly does look like the one cops posted photos of when asking the public for help in identifying it.

While a clear license plate wasn't visible in the photos that the police threw up ... you can kinda make one out in these videos circulating online. Unclear if the person whose property this was found on is being taken in for questioning or not -- but ya gotta imagine they're a person of interest, assuming this turns out to be the car they're after.

As we reported ... two men rolled up to Makeda's Homemade Cookies -- where Dolph was inside at the time -- and jumped out, opening fire on him in broad daylight. After unleashing a barrage of bullets that ultimately killed him on the spot, the perps fled in said Benz.

Memphis PD has yet to speak on the discovery -- they wouldn't confirm to us either way if they thought they had something, but based on this preliminary evidence, it could be a match.

Here's the crazy part ... the car was left just a mere 3 miles from the site of the shooting.

Young Dolph wasn't concerned about returning to Memphis -- he made the trip unaware of any ongoing beef, and without any recent threat to his life -- which makes his murder much more stunning to those around him ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the late rapper tell us Dolph was excited to be back in his hometown, and had booked a week full of charity events for his community.

We're told he had no fear of hitting the streets of Memphis without security guards, and that's exactly why he made the fateful stop at Makeda's Cookies -- one of his favorite local spots.

Of course, it was the cookie shop where 2 men ambushed Dolph, opening fire and killing him on the spot.

We're told all Dolph wanted to do this week was spread positivity in Memphis, as evidenced by the multiple turkey giveaways he'd organized and projects he had with local rappers.

TMZ broke the story, members of Dolph's Paper Route record label organized a turkey giveaway Friday after others were canceled in the wake of Dolph's murder. Volunteers gave out hundreds of birds to families in need because it's what Dolph would have wanted.

The 2 suspects from Dolph's murder have not been caught. Surveillance images released from the attack show both of them, covered head-to-toe (including masks) and holding guns.

Shortly after the shooting, cops stood guard at Yo Gotti's restaurant in the area -- out of fear there would be more violence -- but the restaurant was never attacked.

Art LaFleur, famous for playing Babe Ruth in the classic baseball movie "The Sandlot," is dead.

The actor died Wednesday following a 10-year battle with Parkinson's disease ... according to his wife, Shelley. We're told he died at his home surrounded by his children and Shelley -- and although he was in hospice care, Art was cracking jokes to try to make his family laugh in the time leading up to his death.

His wife is remembering Art as a "generous and selfless man" ... qualities she says carried over into his acting career, "but more importantly it was who he was for his family and friends."

Art is most known, and beloved, for his role in 1993's "The Sandlot" -- but he was also in another big baseball flick, playing first baseman Chick Gandil in 1989's "Field of Dreams" alongside Kevin Costner.

He didn't get into acting until he moved from Chicago to Los Angeles way back in 1975 when he was already 31 years old. He went on to become one of those character actors audiences always recognized, acting in movies like "The Blob," "Cobra" and a couple of the 'Santa Clause' films.

He also landed episodic TV roles on "Malcolm in the Middle," "The Bernie Mac Show," "JAG" and many other shows.

Art was 78.

Young Dolph was brutally murdered, but his efforts to lift his community up are still going strong, including one act of kindness he was supposed to complete the day he was killed.

Dolph was behind a series of charity events all this week, handing out turkeys and groceries to families in need. He was supposed to show up at one of those events Wednesday, but that plan was tragically cut short when two men opened fire hours earlier, killing the rapper.

While still devastated, reps from Dolph's Paper Route record label rallied to get the charity event back on track for Friday ... and giving out hundreds of birds to needy families on a day when Dolph would have done it himself.

Dolph had previously established the IdaMae Family Foundation -- named for his grandmother -- and we're told those closest to him know he would've wanted the event to continue, despite his absence.

As we reported, police have released photos of the alleged shooters and their getaway car ... but no arrests have been made and suspects have not been released.

The Boston Celtics and the NBA continue to honor the late Terrence Clarke -- this time, with a brand new basketball gym at a community center featuring his name.

The newly renovated gym will be at the Boston Centers for Youth & Families Vine Street ... which is where Clarke grew up playing basketball.

It's an amazing tribute ... featuring the former Kentucky guard's initials and #5 jersey in a blue heart at center court and an honorary banner.

It also has a quote from Clarke on the sideline -- saying,  "I want to be that guy for everyone in the city."

There's also a Terrence Clarke memorial inside the entrance with a wall mural and a locker.

The Clarke family -- plus Celtics players, personnel, New Balance and BCYF -- will unveil the TC gym on Nov. 21.

As we previously reported, the 19-year-old baller was killed in a car crash in Los Angeles on April 22 -- just months before the 2021 NBA Draft.

Clarke -- who averaged 9.6 points, 2 assists and 2 rebounds at UK -- was projected to be drafted.

The NBA paid tribute to Clarke by making him an honorary pick at the Barclays Center during the draft ... with commissioner Adam Silver saying, "His extraordinary talent, commitment and dedication to the game deserved to be recognized on this stage."

L.A. Clippers' Brandon Boston Jr. -- who was there when the fatal crash happened -- paid tribute to his Kentucky teammate by tatting a portrait of Clarke on his leg.

Soulja Boy is clapping back at people who are saying he should be down in the dumps over Young Dolph's shooting death ... he says it would be a different vibe if he was the one who was gunned down.

The rapper went on Instagram Live on Friday and railed on his haters, saying they have him twisted if they think he should be more sad about Young Dolph. Soulja goes even further, he thinks people would be happy, laughing and cracking jokes if he was the artist who ended up dead.

As we reported ... Young Dolph was shot and killed this week in his Memphis, TN hometown, with the gunmen pulling up on him while he was inside a cookie store on his way to pass out Thanksgiving meals in his old neighborhood.

Memphis hoops coach Penny Hardaway says he's devastated by Young Dolph's murder -- explaining in an emotional video message Thursday he's hurting badly over the rapper's death.

"A guy that came from Memphis, 901 born, in the city all the time, giving back to his community," Hardaway said ... "to get murdered like that, it just doesn't sit well with me, man."

Dolph was killed inside of a local cookie shop in Memphis on Wednesday ... just minutes before he was set to give away Thanksgiving dinners in his old neighborhood.

Hardaway -- who was born in Memphis and has coached men's basketball at the university since 2018 -- is clearly angered by it all ... and flat-out floored this could happen in his hometown.

"We have to do better," Hardaway said. "This is a guy that was coming back to give back to his community."

"I just don't get it," he continued. "My condolences, my prayers, but we just as a people just have to do better."

No word yet on if Hardaway's program is planning to honor the slain 36-year-old at an upcoming game -- we've reached out to the school for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

The gunmen who allegedly opened fire on Young Dolph, striking and killing the rapper at a Memphis cookie shop were brazen in their attack ... as shown in new images from the murder.

TMZ has obtained surveillance stills from Wednesday's shooting showing two men, with almost their entire bodies covered -- grey sweatpants, jackets, hat/hood and masks -- gunning Dolph down. One man appears to have a pistol and the other a Draco AK-47 pistol.

Cops were quick to the scene, blocking it off, but an employee at the cookie shop tells us the men immediately sped away in what is believed to be a lighter colored Mercedes after opening fire.

About an hour after Dolph's murder, more patrol cars and officers with weapons out stood guard outside Prive, a nearby restaurant owned by Yo Gotti. While Gotti has yet to be tied to the murder in any way, he and Dolph have beef that stems back several years.

Law enforcement sources told us employees at Prive called, concerned there may be some sort of retaliation against Gotti for Dolph's killing.

As of this post, police have still not named the suspects or made any arrests in connection to Dolph's murder.

Dolph's attorney and friend, Scott Hall, tells us the rapper was supposed to attend a charity turkey giveaway later in the day on Wednesday.

He was just 36.

NFL legend and Jackson State head football coach Deion Sanders is mourning the loss of rapper Young Dolph ... penning an emotional prayer to his close family friend.

FOX 13 is reporting the "Major" rapper was gunned down outside a local cookie shop in Memphis on Wednesday. He was just 36 years old.

Following the news, Sanders shared a heartfelt tribute to Dolph ... saying, "Lord help us as a people stop the hate, the violence and the hopelessness."

"When we realize we matter others will as well. Lord help us right now."

Dolph was tight with the Sanders family -- he even attended a recent Jackson State football homecoming game in October, where he was spotted celebrating with the team in the locker room as his "100 Shots" hit blared over the speakers.

"I appreciate you @YoungDolph for blessing us my brother after our homecoming win," Sanders said at the time. "Our young men love ya my man."

Ex-NBA center Kendrick Perkins also reacted to the news ... "It be the people from your hometown that be out to get you! RIP Dolph 🙏🏾"

Utah Jazz star Donovan Mitchell added ... "Damn man RIP young dolph🙏🏾"

Shareef O'Neal -- Shaq's son -- shared his disbelief, saying "Man not dolph bro!!"

Cam Payne of the Phoenix Suns tweeted, "RIP YOUNG DOLPH! Jamming out all day today! 🕊🕊🕊🕊"

Philadelphia Sixers star Tobias Harris added ... "Dolph news got me sick!!! Rest in Peace"

Young Dolph has been shot and killed in his hometown ... TMZ has confirmed.

The rapper was gunned down Wednesday in Memphis, TN outside a local cookie store ... and there's already a massive police presence with people recording the aftermath. A video from the crime scene shows his car parked outside the shop while police investigate. FOX13 Memphis was first to report Dolph's death.

A source says Dolph went into the store, and a vehicle pulled up, firing through a front window and striking the rapper.

Young Dolph has been targeted in the past ... back in 2017, he was struck by multiple bullets outside a shoe store in Hollywood, getting hit in the arms and buttocks, requiring surgery.

Earlier that same year, Dolph's SUV was shot at over 100 times while he was in Charlotte, NC in a shooting that saw an arrest warrant issued for Blac Youngsta, who later turned himself in. The charges against BY were eventually dropped.

As Dolph explained to us in the wake of that shooting, he dropped $600,000 for a pair of bulletproof vehicles and he chalked up the hail of gunfire to jealousy and hate because he's rich and successful.

Last time we got Dolph out was in 2019. He talked to our cameras about the Lakers and Juice WRLD's death.

Dolph leaves behind a son and a daughter. He was only 36.

He's known for several hits, such as "Major" and "On the River." He released 7 studio albums, starting in 2016 with his debut album, "King of Memphis."