‘Dawson’s Creek’ Actor was 51

Obi Ndefo, who starred in Dawson’s Creek, has died. He was 51. 

The actor and yoga teacher’s death was announced by his sister Nkem Ndefo in a post on Facebook on Saturday, Aug. 31. No details of the cause of his death were given.

“Heartbroken at the loss of my younger brother 💔 and knowing he’s finally at peace ❤️‍🩹🕊️✨,” Nkem wrote. She poignantly shared a photo alongside her announcement showing her and Obi smiling and embracing outdoors

PEOPLE has reached out to Nkem for further information on the actor’s death. 

Obi was a graduate of Yale University’s drama school, according to his profile on L.A. Theatre Works. He acted on several television shows, including on The West Wing, Star Trek: Voyager, Stargate SG-1 and The Jamie Foxx Show.

His best-known role was Bodie Wells on Dawson’s Creek, which he appeared in from 1998 to 2002. 

Following the announcement of his death, Mary-Margaret Humes, who played Dawson’s mom Gale Leery on the show, paid tribute to Obi on Instagram.

“These words don’t come easy 💔,” Humes, 70, wrote. “It’s hard for me to conceive that you have left us, my dear friend. You always were and always will be a bright shining light. What an example of pure unfiltered love and tenacity you set as you faced life’s challenges of recent.”

“I will cherish all of our messages of love and support to each other over the past few years. Rest in peace sweet warrior. 🙏🕊️❤️💫,” she concluded, tagging original Dawson’s Creek castmembers Katie Holmes, Joshua Jackson, James Van Der Beek and a few others. 

Humes also shared a montage video of behind-the-scenes moments with Obi on the set of the show as the actor hugged Holmes, 45, during a rehearsal scene, and joked with Van Der Beek, 47, while filming outdoors. She also posted a throwback photo of her and Obi embracing.

Obi death comes after he lost both of his legs after being hit by a car on Aug. 17, 2019.

The actor had been packing up groceries in his parked car after visiting a supermarket in L.A. when an SUV veered out of its lane and crashed into him, severing his right leg and leaving his left leg left hanging, per the Los Angeles Times. Obi ended up having his left leg amputated.

Speaking about life after his accident, Obi told the Los Angeles Times, “How do you know how you would handle this? … And anyway, what’s the alternative? … This is just so horrendous what happened to me, why would I compound this by feeling bad about it?”

“… There is no other choice for me. So there’s a sort of rigor to me, and I think, ‘OK my legs are severed. I don’t know how to do this, but I know how to do this.’ ”

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A GoFundMe page set up for Obi in 2020 raised over $200,000 to cover the costs of prosthetic legs for the actor and the remodelling of his Silver Lake home to be more accessible for him.