Thomas Jefferson Byrd, who has appeared in multiple Spike Lee productions, died on Saturday after being shot. The director announced on Sunday that the seventy-year-old actor has died.
“It is with great sadness that I have to say that beloved Thomas Jefferson Byrd was murdered Saturday night in Atlanta, Georgia,” Lee writes on Instagram.
According to TMZ , police found Byrd when he was already dead. He had been shot in the back several times. An investigation into the circumstances of his death is underway.
The actor has appeared in multiple Lee movies and series, including Clockers, He Got Game, Get On The Bus and Set it Off . Byrd also had a role in the Oscar-nominated film Ray and starred in the Netflix series She’s Gotta Have It , also directed by Lee.
Byrd has also been active as an actor in theater, winning a Tony Award in 2003 for his performance in Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom .