RIP

L.B. Bonner -- who appeared on "My 600-lb Life" and ultimately dropped over 300 pounds -- was found dead in a ditch with a gunshot wound ... TMZ has learned.

Police were making a welfare check Thursday night when they found him in a park in Lexington, South Carolina ... this according to a police report obtained by TMZ. The circumstances surrounding his death are now under investigation.

L.B. appeared in last season's "My 600-lb Life" that documented his incredible weight-loss journey. He started at 642 pounds and trimmed off a whopping 316 pounds, but kept shedding the weight even after filming the show.

L.B. had posted a cryptic message Thursday night on Facebook saying, "I just want to say thank you to everyone who has shown me love and support throughout my journey...I've realized a few things over the last few days and its time that, I face my demons head on."

He went on to say, "No matter what you change or the efforts you put forth in life, sometimes you just have to take it on the chin and deal with things your own way...Again, thank y'all so much... Please don't ever let people you care about not know how you feel."

Cops have not yet officially ruled Bonner's death a suicide, but tell us they're not looking for any other persons of interest in the case.

Cops say Rick Genest -- best known as Zombie Boy -- jumped to his death ... but his family believes it was an accident.

Montreal law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... the Canadian artist and fashion model jumped from a 4th floor balcony of an apartment building Wednesday around 5 PM in Le Plateau-Mont-Royal. We're told paramedics rushed to the scene and performed CPR, but could not revive him.

We spoke with Genest's manager, Karim Leduc, who tells us Rick's family believes his death was an accident. Leduc says Rick would smoke on his balcony, and lean back on a railing while doing so ... and his family believes this caused him to fall.

Leduc also says the fact Rick didn't leave any type of suicide note also plays to the family's suspicions, as he loved to write and would articulate his feelings through his work. Rick's family believes he would have left a suicide note for them.

As we reported ... Zombie Boy rose to mainstream fame in 2011 after appearing in Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" music video. That gig led to more high-profile fashion work on the runway with Rocawear's relaunch in Europe and modeling for magazines like GQ and Vanity Fair.

Lady Gaga responded to the sad news by calling the suicide of her friend, "beyond devastating." She also urged anyone suffering from mental health issues to reach out to friends and family, adding ... "We must save each other."

Zombie Boy was 32.

#RIP

5:15 PM PT -- Lady Gaga just responded to the sad news, calling the suicide of her friend "beyond devastating." She also urged anyone suffering from mental health issues to reach out to friends and family, adding ... "We must save each other."

Rick Genest -- better known as Zombie Boy due to the corpse tattoos covering his body -- has died from an apparent suicide ... according to reports.

The Canadian artist and fashion model was well known in the body art world for obvious reasons, but gained mainstream fame in 2011 when he appeared in Lady Gaga's music vid for "Born This Way."

This led to more high-profile fashion work on the runway, including helping relaunch Jay-Z's label Rocawear in Europe in 2012. He also modeled for magazines like GQ and Vanity Fair.

Zombie Boy held the Guinness World Record for most insect tattoos with 176, and another for most bone tattoos with 139. He had also reportedly been working on an album of original songs with ex-Rob Zombie guitarist Mike Riggs before he died.

According to Canada's iHeartRadio ... Montreal cops say Genest was found dead in his apartment from an apparent suicide.

OG Pantera drummer Vinnie Paul left his best friend a sizable portion of his estate ... this according to Vinnie's will.

TMZ's obtained the doc which outlines exactly how his estate should be divided following his sudden death in June -- and it's Vinnie's BFF, Charles Jones, who's walking away with 38%.

Vinnie's GF, Chelsey Yeager, isn't far behind with 37% of his estate. The rest is split between his tour manager (10%), drum tech (5%), producer (5%) and friend (5%).

And, get this ... Vinnie's also giving his interest in his brother and Pantera co-founder Dimebag Darrell's estate ... to Darrell's gf, Rita Haney. Darrell died in 2004.

The gang member who murdered Yetunde Price -- the half-sister of tennis stars Venus and Serena Williams -- is now a free man after serving 12 years in prison.

Robert Maxfield was convicted of killing Price in 2003 in a drive-by shooting in Compton, and was sentenced to 15 years behind bars for voluntary manslaughter in 2006. According to Daily Mail, he's been released on parole 3 years early for good behavior.

The Williams sisters were close to their older sister, who served as their part-time personal assistant as their careers were taking off.

Yetunde was in the passenger seat of her boyfriend's car when she was hit by a bullet from Maxfield, and she died instantly. Cops said her BF was the intended target.

Former WWE champ Brian Christopher Lawler -- aka Grandmaster Sexay -- has died after hanging himself in jail this weekend.

Lawler's mother, Kay, tells TMZ Sports Brian passed away Sunday surrounded by family and friends after being placed on life support Saturday night following a suicide attempt in jail. He was surrounded by his father, Jerry Lawler, his brother, Kevin, and other family.

We're told he died around 3:40 PM CDT.

As we reported ... guards found Lawler had tried hanging himself in his jail cell outside Memphis. He was taken to a hospital where he remained in critical condition until late Sunday morning.

Lawler was arrested earlier this month for DUI after leading cops on a chase. As we first told you ... cops say he reeked of booze and had an open 12 ounce can in his center console, and they arrested him on the spot. Bail had been set at $40k.

Brian had a successful run in the WWE himself, mostly known as the other half of popular tag team Too Cool and as Scotty 2 Hotty's longtime wrestling partner. They won a tag team championship together.

WWE released a statement on Brian's death, saying "WWE is saddened to learn that Brian Christopher Lawler, who is best known in WWE as Too Cool's Grandmaster Sexay, has passed away. Lawler, who is the son of WWE Hall of Famer Jerry "The King" Lawler, competed during the height of the Attitude Era. WWE extends its condolences to Lawler's family, friends and fans."

WWE Hall of Famer Nikolai Volkoff died this weekend.

His onetime ring partner, The Iron Sheik -- with whom he won WrestleMania I's World Tag Team Championship in '85 -- confirmed in a tweet Sunday that Volkoff had passed away.

Volkoff, who's real name was Josip Nikolai Peruzović, wrestled in the WWWF from 1968 to 1971 where he won a tag team title in 1970. After that, he went on to wrestle singles ... and later returned to the WWWF between '74 and '80 and then again for a second time in '84.

Volkoff had a successful run teaming up with Sheik in multiple wrestling events between '84 and '87 as well as other wrestlers in the years after. He went back and forth between foreign heel and hero through the '90s and eventually scaled back wrestling through the 2000s ... although he did make appearances in WWE.

Although he was Croatian, Volkoff was portrayed as a Russian ... and would often rile up the crowd by singing the Russian National Anthem.

WWE released a statement on Volkoff's passing, saying in part ... "As one of the greatest villains sports-entertainment had ever seen, Volkoff’s infamous rendition of the Soviet National Anthem before his matches made him an instant icon in the eyes of the WWE Universe as a Superstar they truly loved to hate ... WWE extends its condolences to Peruzović’s family, friends and fans."

Volkoff was inducted into the WWE's Hall of Fame in 2005. He was 70 years old.

XXXTentacion's memory was alive and well this weekend in Florida after 2 of his contemporaries brought his mother onstage to pay tribute to the slain MC.

Lil Pump and Smokepurpp were performing Saturday night in Miami for the Lit Up Music Festival, when at one point they brought out a surprise guest ... X's mom, Cleopatra Bernard. She came out flashing an 'X' sign with her arms and received a huge round of applause.

The rappers played X's hit song, "SAD!," over the loudspeakers and let the track run mostly uninterrupted. It was an emotional moment for sure as Cleo maintained her 'X' stance.

As we've reported ... a third suspect, Robert Allen, was arrested last week in connection to X's killing in June. A grand jury indicted him for first degree murder and armed robbery.

Alan O'Neill died from drinking too much and from the injuries he suffered in a nasty fall.

The L.A. County Coroner's Office confirms the "Sons of Anarchy" actor died of chronic alcohol overconsumption. According to the Coroner's report ... other significant factors in his death include blunt force head trauma and heart disease.

The Coroner's Office tells TMZ ... O'Neill had fallen at home while drunk. The death has been ruled an accident.

We broke the story ... O'Neill's girlfriend found his body when she went to his home on June 6.

The Irish-born actor had been working steadily in Hollywood since the '90s. Most notably, he played Hugh on seasons 6 and 7 of "Sons of Anarchy," ... as well as Keith McGrath in "Fair City."

His cause of death was first reported by People.

Tina Turner did what no parent should ever have to do ... bid a final goodbye to their child when she spread her son's ashes off the California coast.

The legendary singer posted this tweet early Friday morning and said, "My saddest moment as a mother. On Thursday, July 19, 2018, I said my final goodbye to my son, Craig Raymond Turner, when I gathered with family and friends to scatter his ashes off the coast of California."

She went on to say, "He was fifty-nine when he died so tragically, but he will always be my baby."

As we first reported, Tina's firstborn son, who was in the real estate business, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound at his home in Studio City, CA on July 3, 2018.

#RIP

Nicholas "Duffy" Fudge, a recurring cast member on the hit reality show "Wicked Tuna," is dead at a very young age ... according to Nat Geo.

Nicholas had been on the show since 2013. His death was announced on the the show's Facebook page ... which only said he had passed away last week. The post did not mention a cause of death.

He was a New Hampshire-based fisherman who served as first mate to Captain Tyler McLaughlin on their fishing vessel, Pinwheel.

If you haven't seen it ... Nat Geo's very successful show follows the fishermen as they head out to sea attempting to catch bluefin tuna, which can weigh hundreds of pounds and be worth thousands of dollars each.

'Wicked Tuna's' Facebook post notes that "Duffy" also appeared on the spinoff series "Wicked Tuna: Outer Banks."

Faith Evans married Notorious B.I.G. in '94, but you wouldn't know it based on her recent marriage license -- it makes no mention of her marriage to the legendary rapper -- but Faith is blaming the court for the error.

TMZ's obtained a copy of Faith's marriage license docs and in it she lists her marriage to Stevie J as marriage no. 2. The document references her divorce from Todd Russaw back in 2012, and that's the other marriage. So, what happened to Biggie?

As you know, Faith and Biggie -- labelmates with Bad Boy Records -- tied the knot back in August of 1994 within days of meeting each other. They separated shortly before his 1997 murder.

As for why the document seems to overlook the Faith/Biggie union. Faith tells us the clerk at the marriage license bureau screwed up. She insists she told the clerk the marriage with Stevie was her 3rd.

Evans adds, "Biggie was my first true love, he will always be acknowledged as such. Everyone knows he was my husband."

TMZ broke the story ... Faith and Stevie got married in their Vegas hotel room last week. The secret wedding, however, blindsided family and friends ... and they were not happy about it.

Hall of Fame jockey Victor Espinoza was sent to the hospital this weekend after a horse he was riding died on the track ... and the scene looked brutal.

Victor was hospitalized with multiple injuries Sunday in Del Mar, California after his horse, Bobby Abu Dhabi, went into cardiac arrest while training ahead of multiple scheduled races. The horse's owner, Brian Trump, confirmed the horse had died.

Based on video of the immediate aftermath of the fall -- obtained by TMZ Sports -- it appears Victor was lying motionless for a while before getting help.

As for his status now, he's said to be experiencing shoulder soreness and numbness -- although, he was reportedly conscious and moving. Safe to say, he's out of Sunday's competition.

Bobby Abu Dhabi had a great run, usually with Victor on his back. He recently took third at Belmont, and placed high (including a couple first place wins) in a number of other races as well.

Sharon Tate's sister, Debra Tate, has had a change of heart over Quentin Tarantino's upcoming flick about the Manson Family ... after a face-to-face with the director.

Debra tells TMZ ... Quentin reached out to her to break the ice and address her concerns over his project -- "Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" -- and was able to arrange a meeting recently.

Debra says she voiced her concerns and he heard her out, then explained the movie's plot ... which made her feel much better. She says she now believes Tarantino has honorable intentions ... "This movie is not what people would expect it to be when you combine the Tarantino and Manson names."

Debra's also pleased with the movie's new release date, which was bumped up 2 weeks in 2019 so it no longer coincides with the 50th anniversary of the murders ... which she thought was "tacky and exploitative."

She still has reservations, though ... but says she's going to meet with Quentin again to read the script and hash it out. But, she's on board for now ... even enough to see the flick.

The film stars Margot Robbie, Leo DiCaprio and Brad Pitt and is about a TV actor and his stunt double trying to make a name for themselves in Hollywood. Tarantino has publicly called it a movie about 1969, not just Charles Manson.

XXXTentacion's murder has brought a rapper's career to a screeching halt ... so says the rapper himself, who at one point was linked to the murder.

Rapper Soldier Kidd tells TMZ ... his career's been derailed ever since online accusations of his possible involvement in XXX's shooting caught the eye of investigators.

TMZ broke the story ... cops working on the case were homing in on the Florida rapper after he posted a pic of himself with a gun while he was at a fish and chicken joint not far from the crime scene.

A grand jury indicted 4 people in the murder case.

Here's a first look at the life-size Chris Cornell statue that will be erected next month at Seattle's Museum of Pop Culture.

Cornell's wife, Vicky, commissioned sculptor Nick Marra in March for the project. It's bittersweet how Vicky discovered the artist ... Marra's the same guy who created a sculpture for Anton Yelchin's tombstone.

Chris and Anton are buried only 40 feet apart at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, and Vicky struck up a conversation with Anton's mother about his sculpture when they were both visiting the gravesites.

Marra tells us ... Vicky gave him an old photo of Chris doing what she called "the rock god pose" for the statue. Marra got one of his son's friend's who's 6'3" -- the same height as Chris -- to model for the body scan. He used that to make a foam statue, then covered it in an oil-based clay before bronzing.

Since it was a rush job each body part had to be bronzed separately, and it wasn't cheap.