Regina King is paying tribute to her ex Malcolm-Jamal Warner.
In the wake of Warner’s tragic death at the age of 54 on July 20, King, also 54, shared a pair of Instagram Stories posts paying tribute to the Cosby Show alum, whom she dated in the early 2010s.
“Some people leave a lasting imprint, not just for who they were but for the energy they carried,” she wrote alongside a photo of Warner on a motorcycle. “I’m sending prayers filled with love and understanding to your family and loved ones. Rest easy Malcolm-Jamal Warner.”
King shared another photo of Warner on a motorcycle, captioning it, “Ride In Power.”
King and Warner dated from 2011 to 2013.
Little was shared about their relationship, and Warner opened up to BET in October 2011 about why they kept their relationship private.
“I think Regina and I are both of the philosophy that we keep our private lives private. All relationships go through all kinds of peaks and valleys. And I think it’s unfortunate — when you live in the public eye, of course, your peaks and valleys are going to be heavily scrutinized,” he shared at the time.
“So we just kind of prefer to protect what we have going on because relationships are work, anyway. We don’t need the rest of the world to know our Kool-Aid,” Warner continued. “So we like to protect what we have because it’s very special and very precious.”
King hinted that she and Warner were “good” around the time of their split.
“Hey everybody PLEASE don’t believe everything you read,” she wrote in a tweet from March 2013. “Me & [Warner] are good. Life happens. Forward motion. Godspeed.”
Warner drowned while on a family vacation in Costa Rica.
The Judicial Investigation Agency (OIJ) confirmed to PEOPLE that the actor’s autopsy was completed on Tuesday, July 22, which showed that he died from accidental asphyxiation by submersion.
“The body will be removed from the Judicial Morgue by a funeral service company hired and authorized by Mr. Warner’s family,” the organization said.
In a statement obtained by PEOPLE on July 21, the OIJ said: “The victim appears to have entered the sea and was apparently swept away by a current. The man was rescued by bystanders and taken to shore, where he received treatment from the Costa Rican Red Cross. However, he was declared lifeless at the scene.”
Costa Rican National Police formally identified Warner on Sunday, July 20. They revealed the following day that the actor’s cause of death was ruled as the result of drowning, pending the autopsy report.
In addition to King, Warner has been remembered throughout the Hollywood community for his work on and off the screen.
He has been honored by several of his The Cosby Show castmates, including Bill Cosby and Raven-Symoné.
Warner famously played Theodore “Theo” Huxtable throughout the series’ eight-season run between 1984 and 1992.
Castmates from other shows Warner appeared on have also shared their memories of him, including Tracee Ellis Ross from Reed Between the Lines, Patrick J. Adams from Suits and Emily VanCamp and Morris Chestnut from The Resident, among others.
