RIP

A father and his son have been arrested in connection with the death of Tyson Gay's 15-year-old daughter ... after officials say they were in a shootout with a 21-year-old man when a stray bullet struck the young girl.

The U.S. Olympic sprinter's daughter, Trinity, was killed early Sunday morning when she was hit in the neck outside the Cook Out restaurant in Lexington, Kentucky around 4 AM.

The father, son duo is 38-year-old Chazerae Taylor and his 19-year-old son D’Markeo -- who cops say were in a shootout with 21-year-old D'Vonta Middlebrooks.

The Taylors have been arrested and charged with wanton endangerment. Middlebrooks was hit with the same charge PLUS a weapons charge.

Vikings star Anthony Barr says Minnesota's M.V.P. may NOT be on the field ... it might be the big guy above ... ya know, Prince!!

The W Hotel couldn't possibly have known "Pretty Little Liars" director Norman Buckley's husband would kill himself when it denied Buckley access to his room ... according to new legal docs.

The W says Buckley put its Hollywood hotel staff in a damned if you do, damned if you don't dilemma. Buckley wanted to deliver meds for PTSD and paranoia to his husband, Davyd Whaley. The hotel says letting him in would have violated Whaley's explicit request for privacy.

According to docs, the hotel says it had no malicious intent when it denied Buckley.

TMZ broke the story ... Buckley sued the W for wrongful death, alleging the hotel blocking him stopped him from rescuing his husband from suicide.

Former NY Jets star Dennis Byrd -- was paralyzed in a game, but learned to walk again -- has died in an Oklahoma car accident.

Antonio Brown's tribute to the late Kimbo Slice just got the stamp of approval from Kimbo's son ... who says he's proud to see his father honored in such an awesome way.

TMZ Sports spoke with Kevin Ferguson Jr. -- a.k.a. Baby Slice -- about the kicks ... and what it means to him to have one of the NFL's best show love to his pops.

"It feels good, man ... it lets me know that my dad touched a lot of people."

The clip's pretty cool ... Kevin has a message for Brown. He also previews his pro MMA debut at Bellator 162 next week ... and it doesn't sound promising for the dude steppin' into the cage with Baby Slice.

Tommy Ford talked like he was at death's door shortly before he died.

TMZ has obtained what appears to be the "Martin" star's last interview ever with Xcellence Community Magazine founder Dr. Angella Banks. He almost wrote his own eulogy.

TMZ broke the story ... Tommy died Wednesday after an aneurysm ruptured. He was 52.

R.I.P.

There are VERY BIG reasons to watch this clip ...

One ... IG model Lindsey Pelas is going to give some really thoughtful and smart insights on the drama her alma mater, LSU, is having with PETA over its live tiger mascot.

Two ... she's doing it while wearing a low-cut shirt sure to bring out the tiger in most of you guys ... and some of you ladies.

Check out the clip -- she's not really on the side of PETA, and she's not really on the side of keeping the mascot ... but she's definitely on the side of BEING SUPER DAMN FREAKIN' HOT.

R.I.P. Mike VI.

It took almost 6 months, but Prince's final tribute was a monster of a show with huge performances ... despite some big name dropouts.

Stevie Wonder, Chaka Khan, Tori Kelly, and Jessie J ... were just a few of the names that put on the marathon show -- it went for more than 4 1/2 hours inside Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul.

The sold-out show overcame last minute cancellations from John Mayer, Anita Baker and Christina Aguilera.

The show ended with "Purple Rain" ... and an ominous recording of Prince's voice saying, "I love you."

Tommy Ford -- who played Tommy on the '90s hit show "Martin" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

Tommy passed away Wednesday in an Atlanta hospital surrounded by family and friends.

As we reported, Ford had been on life support after an aneurysm ruptured in his abdomen. He was initially hospitalized Sunday, and his health had declined since. Family made the decision to turn off support this afternoon.

Ford played Martin Lawrence's best friend for all 5 seasons of the show. Co-star Carl Payne arrived at Ford's bedside on Wednesday morning. He tells us, "On behalf of the family, we would like to thank everyone for their love, support and prayers." He says the family will announce funeral arrangements at a later date.

He was 52.

Jim Carrey's late girlfriend had a broken relationship with her mother and they were estranged for years ... according to Carrey's lawyer.

Marty Singer claims Cathriona White received a message from her mom a few days before her suicide that was so demoralizing ... Cat cut off all contact with her. He also says Cat was forced to leave home at the age of 15 because of the way her mom treated her.

Singer says the wrongful death suit filed by the mother, Brigid Sweetman, is headed down the "same dark path" as Cat's estranged husband's lawsuit ... which he refers to as a sham.

Carrey's lawyer says Sweetman is directing her grief and rage over the loss of her daughter at his client ... but it's just another attempt to capitalize on her death.

Sad news from the bayou ... LSU's beloved live tiger mascot Mike VI has died following a 4 month battle with cancer.

The school announced the 11-year-old Bengali-Siberian tiger was "humanely euthanized" Tuesday morning after entering hospice care at his "night house" on the LSU campus.

Mike was diagnosed with a rare form of incurable cancer back in May -- and developed a tumor bigger than a baseball behind his eye that specialists say would have eventually killed him.

LSU says Mike's caretakers kept a close watch during his final hours to make sure he did not suffer.

Jim Carrey has been slapped with a lawsuit by the mother of his ex-girlfriend, claiming she OD'd after she realized he had given her 3 STDs and when she confronted him he dumped her.

Cathriona White's mom, Brigid Sweetman, claims in a new lawsuit ... Jim did more than just infect her. The suit alleges he shamed her by calling her a "whore" and threatened her with the help of "fixers" who tried to silence her.

Sweetman says in the suit her daughter learned from a doctor in 2013 she had contracted 2 types of herpes and chlamydia. Sweetman says Carrey was first dismissive and then claimed she contracted any disease she might have from someone else.

The mom says when her daughter persisted, Carrey ended the relationship and said, "You have become too much drama."

According to the lawsuit, the "fixers" scared her daughter into silence. The suit claims Cathriona struggled emotionally before OD'ing on Ambien, Propranolol and Percocet. The drugs were allegedly Carrey's ... the prescription filled under a pseudonym.

We reached out to Carrey's people ... so far no comment.

The bible Tupac read while serving time at a maximum security prison is up for sale ... and it's expected to command a pretty penny, thanks to the rapper's John Hancock.

We're told a member of Tupac's family put the bible in the hands of online dealer Moments in Time -- which set the price at a cool $54k. The late rapper signed it along with his inmate number from the 9 months he spent at Clinton Correctional Facility in 1995.

You'll recall Tupac famously gave his "homeboys in Clinton Max" a shout-out in "Hail Mary."

Important note ... we're told Tupac's estate is not behind the sale. But when the bible sells we're told the family will get a bulk of the cash.

He floats like a butterfly ...

He stings like a bee ...

Which is why Antonio Brown's new custom cleats are paying tribute ... to Muhammad Ali!!!

The Pittsburgh Steelers superstar is planning to make another statement with his feet on Sunday -- with cleats featuring images of the legendary boxer.

They've even got images of a bee and a butterfly, thanks to artist Corey Pane -- the same guy who designed AB's Arnold Palmer cleats from last weekend.

Anton Yelchin's death was his own fault because he misused the Jeep that ended up rolling back and killing him ... at least according to his local dealership.

The Valencia, CA Chrysler dealership filed its response to the wrongful death lawsuit filed by Anton's parents ... listing a slew of reasons why it should not be on the hook for anything related to Anton's fatal accident.

Most damningly in the docs -- the dealer says Anton's death was the result of his own "misuse, misapplication, or damage" of the Jeep Grand Cherokee that rolled and crushed him. It's not spelled out, but the dealer seems to be hinting Anton made aftermarket changes that damaged the SUV.

The company also believes his parents didn't preserve the vehicle as it was at the time of the accident ... which would compromise critical evidence in the case.

The dealership is asking the judge to cut them loose from the lawsuit.

8:59 AM PT -- The Broward County Coroner has now confirmed Samman passed away at 7:20 AM on Wednesday.

As for cause of death, the coroner told us, "It would be hard to suggest anything other than drugs" based on the conditions in which Samman and Kirkingburg were found.

An autopsy is scheduled -- but there could be delays due to the hurricane in the region.

UFC middleweight Josh Samman -- who appeared on "The Ultimate Fighter" -- has died after spending several days in a coma ... this according to his 'Ultimate Fighter' castmate Gilbert Jamal Smith.

Samman was found unresponsive early Friday morning at an apartment in South Florida. His roommate, Troy Kirkingburg -- an MMA announcer -- was pronounced dead at the scene.

It's unclear how the two men died.

There were rumblings that heroin played a role -- but Samman's mother came out and said doctors found no traces of the drug in his system. There were also no signs of foul play according to reports.

Samman was 28.