RIP

Tom Sizemore -- famous for roles in "Saving Private Ryan," "Black Hawk Down" and several cult classic movies -- has died.

The actor passed away Friday in an L.A.-area hospital after his family made the difficult decision to remove him from life support. The actor had been receiving treatment after suffering a brain aneurysm at his home on February 18, which caused him to collapse and lose consciousness.

Tom's rep, Charles Lago, tells TMZ, "It is with great sadness and sorrow I have to announce that actor Thomas Edward Sizemore (“Tom Sizemore”) aged 61 passed away peacefully in his sleep today at St Joseph’s Hospital Burbank. His Brother Paul and twin boys Jayden and Jagger (17) were at his side."

TMZ broke the story ... Tom was rushed to the ER around 2 AM, and was listed in critical condition while doctors worked on him in the ICU. He never regained consciousness.

Tom's manager, Charles Lago, told us his condition still wasn't good a week after the incident ... remaining in a coma in the ICU with no signs of improvement. We were told the medical staff at his location recommended an end-of-life plan, laying out options for the family.

Lago also said Tom's aneurysm was the result of a stroke he suffered, causing him to collapse.

Sizemore's legacy is certainly mired in controversy -- especially in his later years -- but for a time, he was a sure thing in Hollywood, especially as he started to blow up following a string of career-changing roles throughout the '90s, like the one he landed in Spielberg's World War II epic.

In 'SPR,' TS played Sergeant Horvath opposite Tom Hanks and other big actors as they sought out Matt Damon's character to relieve him of duty. Sizemore's performance was a standout one, and it actually earned him a couple award nominations.

Even before 'Ryan' ... Sizemore had already racked up several notable roles in flicks like "Where Sleeping Dogs Lie," "Passenger 57," "True Romance," "Natural Born Killers," "Devil in a Blue Dress," "Heat," "Enemy of the State" and lots of others. By this point, he'd carved out a nice little archetype for himself, often playing a tough guy and/or a hardened criminal.

The 2000s and the decades thereafter weren't nearly as memorable for Sizemore, but he continued to act in a lot of films -- the most noteworthy of which include ... "Pearl Harbor," 'Black Hawk,' "Dreamcatcher," "Red Planet" and "Paparazzi."

The late 2000s and 2010s saw Tom padding his resume with a lot of B-movie-level flicks/shows. All in all, he had 230 acting credits to his name -- but the appeal he held some 30 years ago had largely faded. Of course, Sizemore also battled addiction throughout his career.

He had been arrested on a handful of occasions ... a couple of times for domestic violence, and frequently for substance abuse-related offenses. Sizemore had been in and out of rehab for his addictions.

He's survived by 2 sons. Sizemore was 61.

Ex-NBA star Matt Barnes says LeBron James has done enough in a Laker uniform to be forever enshrined outside Crypto.com Arena ... but tells TMZ Sports they gotta focus on getting Kobe Bryant's statue up before they even think about it.

We spoke with Barnes weeks after James became the NBA's all-time scoring leader ... and we asked if the record, plus his one NBA title in L.A., is enough to get a monument at 1111 S. Figueroa Street.

The former Lakers forward says he's with it ... but not before Kobe, who has yet to get the treatment since his retirement in 2016.

"S***, they gotta worry about getting that Kobe statue up first," Barnes said at LAX on Wednesday.

The Lakers retired both Bryant's #8 and #24 in 2017 ... but as of right now, no details have been announced regarding his statue outside "The House That Kobe Built" -- aside from the fact it will happen eventually.

Of course, Bryant has been honored in many ways since his death in January 2020, including murals and themed basketball courts across the world. Sculptor Dan Medina, also placed a temporary statue of Kobe and his daughter, Gigi, at the crash site on the anniversary of their death.

The NBA also renamed their All-Star Game MVP trophy in his honor.

As for James, Barnes believes a King James statue in L.A. will still happen -- 'cause let's face it, he's "an all-time great."

"I'm sure they'll find a way to honor him with a statue," Barnes said.

If it happens, LeBron and Kobe will join fellow Lakers greats like Jerry West, Shaquille O'Neal, Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and broadcaster Chick Hearn.

Alex Murdaugh will spend the rest of his life behind bars for the murders of his wife and son ... and the judge seemed to say the death penalty might have been more appropriate.

The life sentence was handed down Friday in a South Carolina courthouse ... the sentencing comes a day after the jury convicted him of two counts of murder and two counts of possession of a weapon during the commission of a violent crime -- a verdict reached by the jury after less than three hours of deliberations.

Before the judge handed down the sentence, Murdaugh maintained he did not commit the murders. The judge said it was heartbreaking for him to see Murdaugh going from a grieving husband and father to a killer. The judge noted prosecutors could have sought the death penalty, and seemed to say the death penalty may have been the right punishment.

After Murdaugh said he didn't commit the crime, the judge said he agreed it might have been an alter ego ... the monster within.

Murdaugh’s legal team told TMZ ... "We are disappointed in the jury’s verdict but we will not have any further comment until after sentencing."

Murdaugh's 22-year-old son Paul and his wife Maggie were found dead back in 2021 at their hunting property in Islandton, South Carolina. Murdaugh was originally described by authorities as only a "person of interest," largely because he claimed to have an airtight alibi.

During the trial, however, prosecutors introduced video and audio evidence showing that Alex’s alibi evidence was not credible, and placed him at the scene of the crime at about the time of the killings

Murdaugh later admitted on the stand that he had lied to authorities about not being at the property, but nevertheless insisted he had not killed his wife and son.

Oscar Pistorius could be released from prison at the end of this month ... the ex-Olympic sprinter is now up for parole in South Africa -- 10 years after he killed his girlfriend.

A hearing will go down on March 31, according to Pistorius' attorney, Julian Knight ... who added that if parole is granted during the proceedings, the convicted killer could be out from behind bars that same day.

Pistorius has completed more than half of the 13-year, 5-month sentence that he was given for shooting and killing 29-year-old Reeva Steenkamp on Valentine's Day in Feb. 2013.

You'll recall, Pistorius, a double-amputee nicknamed "Blade Runner," admitted to shooting her in his South African home -- though he claimed it wasn't on purpose ... saying he thought she was an intruder. He was eventually convicted of manslaughter, which was later upgraded to murder.

According to The Independent, Steenkamp's family is against Pistorius' early release ... though South African law will allow Pistorius to seek it nonetheless, as offenders in the country can apply for parole once they've served at least half of their sentences.

Alex Murdaugh's legal team tells TMZ ... “We are disappointed in the jury’s verdict but we will not have any further comment until after sentencing.”

Alex Murdaugh has been found guilty in the double murder trial of his son and wife.

The jury took less than 3 hours to reach a verdict Thursday, announcing it in a South Carolina courthouse.

As we reported, Murdaugh's wife Maggie and 22-year-old son Paul were found dead in 2021 at their hunting property, and investigators say they were shot with 2 different guns.

Murdaugh was originally a person of interest for more than a year but claimed he had an alibi. Still, a grand jury heard enough evidence last July to indict him for the murders of Maggie and Paul.

During the trial, which started back in January, Murdaugh's supposed alibi was blown up when prosecutors introduced a bombshell piece of evidence -- video from Paul's phone recorded at 8:44 PM in the family's dog kennel ... minutes before the murders.

In the video, Paul's father is heard in the background, meaning he actually was nearby when Paul and Maggie were murdered.

When Murdaugh took the stand last month he broke down as he recalled finding his wife and son dead -- however, due to Paul's video -- he was forced to admit lying to authorities about not being on the property when they were murdered.

Under cross-examination, prosecutors grilled Murdaugh over stealing millions from his law clients, and his decades-long addiction to prescription pills.

The trial hit one procedural snafu on Thursday -- Judge Clifton Newman said one of the jurors discussed her opinion about evidence with 3 people outside court ... so, she was replaced by an alternate juror.

College baseball player Jatonne Sterling, a member of the Clark Atlanta University team, was shot and killed on Tuesday. He was just 20 years old.

The Atlanta Police Department said the tragic shooting happened less than a mile from CAU's campus in Georgia ... near a church.

According to cops, officers responded to the scene at around 1:42 p.m. ... and found Sterling suffering from a gunshot wound. They said he was "not alert, conscious, or breathing and was pronounced deceased on the scene."

Cops say they have launched an investigation into the shooting, but no arrests have been made yet.

CAU, an HBCU, and its athletics department mourned Sterling's death in a social media post, saying, "Gone too soon."

"Please keep Jatonne’s family in your prayers. 🙏🏾," the school added.

According to CAU, Sterling was a utility player on the baseball team who was majoring in computer science.

Before getting a baseball scholarship to play for the CAU Panthers, Sterling was a standout athlete at Chicago's Morgan Park High School ... where he won a championship in 2021.

His former high school baseball coach, Earnest Radcliff, told 11Alive he spoke with Sterling a week ago and looked at him like a son.

"I don't have any words to describe the hurt for this young man," Radcliff said. "No parent should have to bury their child."

R.I.P.

Aaron Carter's mom is not buying the notion he died of an overdose -- she's incensed the police aren't investigating his death as a homicide, and believes photos from the death scene contain some leads.

Jane Carter joined "TMZ Live" Thursday and shared her thoughts and suspicions about what really went down the day her son died back in January. As we reported, she just made the decision to release pics of his bathroom ... where he was found dead in the tub.

Jane tells us, while she knows Aaron was a drug addict, she doesn't believe he wanted to die ... nor does she think he would huff enough aerosols to kill him.

Instead, she's absolutely convinced someone was out to get him, and points out there were plenty of people -- including alleged drug dealers -- harassing Aaron online. Jane also claims cops did not do a thorough welfare check when they went to Aaron's home the night before his body was found.

Aaron's mom desperately wants investigators to take a much closer look at all possibilities of foul play, because, to her eyes, some things just don't add up ... especially when she sees how much water was left in the tub -- as seen in the photos -- after his body was removed.

Lavel Davis Jr.'s home state of South Carolina is making sure his name lives on -- and officials are doing it by naming a portion of a highway after the slain UVA football player.

The proposal was submitted to the South Carolina General Assembly in February, which is three months after Davis and two of his teammates were gunned down on the Virginia campus.

The request on the bill read, "Whereas, it would be fitting and proper to pay homage to Lavel 'Tyler' Norman Davis, Jr., an outstanding athlete and accomplished young man whose life held such promise but was tragically cut short by naming a portion of highway in Dorchester County in his memory."

According to Davis' cousin Sean Lampkin, Lavel's mother informed him of the great news on Thursday.

"Lavel’s mother, Simone, has informed me that the State of SC has decided to name a highway after Lavel Tyler Norman Davis Jr. near his HS," Lampkin said via Twitter on Thursday.

Lampkin says there will also be a ceremony to officially welcome the tribute.

The 9.6-mile stretch of Highway 78 will be named the "Lavel ‘Tyler’ Norman Davis, Jr. Memorial Highway" and will start from the 12.79-mile point to the 22.39 marker.

This dedication is one of the many that's happened since Davis, D'Sean Perry, and Devin Chandler were killed on Nov 13, 2022.

The University of Virginia posthumously awarded the three football players with their degrees ... and the Washington Commanders paid tribute with helmet decals featuring their jerseys numbers 1, 15, and 41.

The shooting suspect, Christopher Jones Jr., was arrested and charged with three counts of second-degree murder and three counts of using a handgun in the commission of a felony.

James "Tim" Norman, star of the reality series "Welcome To Sweetie Pie's," has been sentenced to life in prison for his murder-for-hire plot against his nephew.

Norman was handed his sentence Thursday, according to legal docs obtained by TMZ -- this after being found guilty in September of setting up his 21-year-old nephew Andre's slaying back in 2016.

As we reported, Norman was convicted of murder-for-hire, conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire, and conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud. Prosecutors said he tried cashing a life insurance policy on Andre worth $450K after working with a woman named Terica Ellis to pull off the killing.

FYI -- Ellis was charged with conspiracy to commit murder-for-hire and has pled guilty -- getting sentenced in January to 3 years behind bars.

Alex Murdaugh's double murder trial hit a delay Thursday morning when the judge dismissed one of the jurors -- but she refused to leave court without some very valuable belongings.

Judge Clifton Newman announced one of the jurors had discussed her opinion about trial evidence with 3 people -- presumably not other jurors -- and therefore, she's being replaced with an alternate.

The jurors' dismissal also came with an inflationary sign of the times, as she demanded her belongings from the jury room before departing. Those items included her purse, a bottle ... and a dozen eggs!!!

The price of those eggs runs somewhere south of $4, on average, these days in South Carolina ... so ya get it.

Even the judge quipped, "We've had a lot of interesting things. But now a dozen eggs."

Ex-NFL owner Jerry Richardson -- the founder of the Carolina Panthers -- has died, his former team announced Thursday.

He was 86 years old. No cause of death has been revealed.

Richardson officially became an NFL owner in 1995, when the Panthers entered the league as an expansion franchise. He went on to be the honcho of the org. until 2018, when he sold the team to billionaire David Tepper.

"Jerry Richardson's contributions to professional football in the Carolinas are historic," Tepper said after learning the news of his death on Thursday. "With the arrival of the Panthers in 1995, he changed the landscape of sports in the region and gave the NFL fans a team to call their own.''

Tepper added, "He was incredibly gracious to me when I purchased the team, and for that I am thankful."

The Panthers made the playoffs eight times under Richardson's watch, making two Super Bowl appearances.

His tenure, however, was not without controversy. He was accused of sexually harassing female staffers and using racist language while running the team.

The league investigated the claims, and in 2018 -- just before he sold the franchise to Tepper -- he was hit with a $2.75 million fine.

A statue of Richardson that stood in front of the Panthers' stadium for years was eventually removed in 2020 -- after the team said it feared people would try to take it down during a summer of national protests.

Aaron Carter's mother believes he was the victim of a crime, not an overdose -- so, she's made the tough decision to let the world see where he died ... in order to make her point.

Jane Carter posted a series of pics Wednesday taken in Aaron's bathroom on the day he died. The shots include the bathtub where Aaron's body was found, you can see the water has a greenish tint -- that's because Aaron's body was there for several hours before his housekeeper discovered it.

There are also photos of towels on the floor and what appears to be contaminated water spilled on the bathroom tile.

Jane says she had the full support of Aaron's family and friends to post the images because she says she wants to bring attention back to his case. Jane says the photos weren't taken by law enforcement, and it's wrong cops allowed anyone in the house after Aaron's body was discovered before first doing a full investigation into what happened.

Jane says, "Because of my son's mental illness and prescription drug issues they (cops) just wanted it to be something easy that they didn't have the time or inclination to address."

Jane believes someone was out to harm Aaron, saying, "There are people who must be held accountable."

She also finds it suspicious Aaron was allegedly pulled out of the tub while someone performed CPR on the singer, yet the towels appear to be "perfectly placed."

TMZ broke the story ... the L.A. County Coroner's Office told Aaron's family his autopsy did not find any water in his lungs -- meaning he didn't drown -- and leading investigators to believe he died from an OD.

The FBI recovered a trove of evidence against accused Idaho student killer Bryan Kohberger at his Pennsylvania home, including a gun, knives and black face masks.

Newly unsealed search warrant docs, obtained by TMZ, show the Bureau's itemized list of property belonging to Kohberger that agents found inside his family house after he was arrested for the brutal stabbing murders of four University of Idaho students while wearing a mask.

Among the items listed were a Glock 22 semiautomatic .40 Caliber pistol, three empty Glock .40 Caliber magazines, a Smith & Wesson pocketknife, Taylor cutting knife with a sheath, black masks, black gloves, a black hat and a criminal psychology book.

The docs also say the FBI searched his white Hyundai Elantra, finding a knife. The warrant does not address whether the knife is the murder weapon. Authorities also found tire irons, a shovel, goggles, a Ziploc bag and other items in the car.

Top NFL prospect Jalen Carter -- the potential No. 1 overall pick in next month's draft -- turned himself in to police on Wednesday night ... posing for a mug shot -- before quickly being released.

The former Univ. of Georgia star defensive lineman was booked at 11:33 PM, according to jail records -- just hours after the Athens-Clarke County Police Department issued warrants for his arrest for his alleged role in a January car crash that killed two people.

The records show Carter was released just 16 minutes after he was initially booked. He's facing misdemeanor charges of reckless driving and racing.

In his mug shot, Carter -- wearing a white tank top -- appeared to be emotionless and stoic.

As we reported, cops have accused Carter of racing UGA staffer Chandler LeCroy in a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk ... before LeCroy's 2021 Ford Expedition veered off the road and crashed into power poles and trees.

Police said in a statement Wednesday morning, an investigation into the crash showed both Carter and LeCroy "switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel" -- adding that LeCroy reached speeds of 104 MPH before the accident.

Carter, who was at the NFL's combine in Indianapolis when the arrest warrant was made public, immediately left the league's scouting event to head back to Georgia. He later said in a statement, "There is no question in my mind that when all of the facts are known that I will be fully exonerated of any criminal wrongdoing."

Cops have just issued an arrest warrant for top NFL draft prospect Jalen Carter ... after they said he was racing a Univ. of Georgia football assistant moments before her fatal car crash in January.

The Athens-Clarke County Police Dept. said Wednesday morning an investigation into the Jan. 15 wreck -- the one that claimed the lives of UGA staffer Chandler LeCroy and Bulldogs football player Devin Willock -- revealed Carter and LeCroy had been driving recklessly "in an apparent attempt to outdistance each other."

They said the probe into the crash revealed Carter, driving a 2021 Jeep Trackhawk, and LeCroy, driving a 2021 Ford Expedition, "switched between lanes, drove in the center turn lane, drove in opposite lanes of travel, overtook other motorists, and drove at high rates of speed" at around 2:30 AM after leaving the downtown Athens area.

They added that LeCroy made it up to 104 MPH ... before she ultimately veered off the road and struck two power poles and trees -- killing her and Willock, while injuring the other two passengers in the vehicle.

Cops said they've now secured arrest warrants against Carter, a star defensive lineman for Georgia the past three years, for reckless driving and racing.

Police also said Tuesday that a toxicology report showed LeCroy's BAC was .197 at the time of the accident. They officially deemed alcohol impairment, racing, reckless driving, and speed as "significant contributing factors to the crash."

LeCroy was just 24 years old. Willock was just 20.

21-year-old Carter, meanwhile, is projected to be a top-five pick in next month's NFL draft -- with some insiders believing he could go No. 1 overall. He was slated to speak at the NFL's combine in Indianapolis later Tuesday. It's unclear if that will still happen.

A gunman casually executed a homeless person on a St. Louis street in broad daylight ... and the horrifying attack was all caught on video.

Check out this footage -- shot by a witness -- showing Deshawn Thomas brandishing a gun while standing just behind the homeless man outside a downtown building on Monday morning.

Thomas struggled at first to load the weapon as the homeless man sat on the edge of the sidewalk ... oblivious to the danger around him.

With the gun loaded, Thomas pointed the barrel at the head of the homeless man and pulled the trigger.

The witness reacted with sheer terror, screaming, "Oh my God, he just killed him!!"

Thomas fled on foot, but police later captured him and recovered his gun as he tried to enter a library near the crime scene. He was booked into the county jail for first-degree murder.