Stephen “tWitch” Boss’s sudden suicide has been met with shock and disbelief, but new information is shedding light on his state of mind in the days leading up to his death.
The man who gained fame as a DJ and dancer on the Ellen daytime talk program was discovered dead in a motel in the Los Angeles region from a self-inflicted gunshot wound. The 40-year-life old appeared ideal on social media however, a suicide note he purportedly left behind offers insights as to why he decided to take his own life.
tWitch’s suicide note was first revealed by TMZ:
Law enforcement sources tell us tWitch’s note, left at the scene of his suicide, was an ambiguous reference to his past challenges. It’s unclear exactly what he was referring to in the note.
We’re told investigators have determined tWitch took an Uber from his home to the motel less than a mile from his home Monday morning, and switched his phone to airplane mode so no one could reach or track him.
Exactly what caused this to happen has yet to be determined. Columbus Short, who co-starred with tWitch in the films Stomp The Yard and Homecoming, has provided his own, seemingly unasked-for conspiracy theory regarding the actor’s suicide.
Without providing any evidence, Short speculated that tWitch killed himself due to financial difficulties.
Short said in a video of himself speaking about tWitch’s death:
“People made investments, people do a lot of things — this is just a theory,”
“What if you invested something that took your whole life savings, possibly? … It gets rough.”
“You guys don’t know what people are going through … People are awful … tWitch was amazing, is amazing still — his legacy shall live on.”
The suicide of tWitch highlights a growing problem of Black individuals killing themselves. Overall statistics suggest that Black people have one of the lowest suicide rates, but research from last year shows that the COVID-19 pandemic has changed those numbers for the worse.
People from many areas of life are affected by suicide, whether the cause is mental illness, stress, feelings of hopelessness, or another factor. Keep reading to see a list of famous Black people who killed themselves.
If you are interested in what has been happening in the country recently, make sure to check out our coverage of the most recent news articles:
- Longtime Texas GOP Supporter Harry Whittington Dies When Dick Cheney Accidentally Shoots Him Hunting.
- Dead New York Woman Starts Breathing Hours Later at Funeral Home
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center reports that between 2010 and 2019 (the most recent years for which data is available), the suicide rate among Black persons in the United States was 7.4 per 100,000. That’s in contrast to the national average of 13.2 per 100,000 persons.
Statistics show that from childhood through mid-adulthood, Black people have the lowest suicide rates of any demographic. Suicide rates among Black people are highest throughout their teenage and early adult years, and then gradually decrease after that.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center reports that “suicide rates peak in midlife,” which is a distinct pattern from what is seen in the general U.S. population.
The suicide rate among black males is over double that of black females, while both sexes of people of color have much lower rates than white people.
The Suicide Prevention Resource Center showed that while “the suicide death rate for men is more than four times that for women in Black groups,” the rate is “roughly double that of Black populations for both males and females.”
In contrast to the preceding groups, however, Black individuals have disproportionately high rates of suicidal ideation and behavior. In fact, “the percentage of past-year suicide attempts was higher in Black adult populations,” the Suicide Prevention Resource Center said.
