John Amos’ Family on Being Blindsided by His Death & Possibility of Foul Play (Exclusive)

The circumstances surrounding John Amos’ death are shrouded in mystery and, unfortunately, controversy. 

“Extra’s” Billy Bush spoke with John’s daughter Shannon Amos, brother Leslie Franklin, granddaughter Quiera Williams, goddaughter Amy Goudy, and business manager Paul Baldessare. 

Leslie remembered John fondly, saying, “He cared. He cared about everybody. He had a big heart, people loved him.”

Amos was also known as a great storyteller, and Shannon shared, “I think one of my favorite stories is he tells me about being a little girl and watching me pick a daisy and feed it to a cow and how that was such a precious moment. He just loved creating those little moments, and I'm grateful for that.”

Sadly and shockingly, they say they only learned about John’s death with the rest of the world through media reports. The group believes John’s son, K.C. Amos, manipulated John in order to control his money and benefits. 

Quiera explained, “Yes, I found out with everyone else, and I’m a teacher, so in the moment I’m with my students and it did not seem real and… I’m just devastated. I mean, I feel robbed of any chance that I had left to speak to him.”  

Shannon recalled the last time she saw her dad. “I saw him in the hospital in June of 2023. I had to sneak into the hospital because my brother had assigned himself a new power of attorney. I got in, I saw him in the hallway, we had a brief conversation, and then I was escorted out by security.”

She has also accused K.C. of elder abuse, something her own father accused her of in a video posted by K.C. Both siblings deny the claims, and the LAPD reportedly closed its investigation into K.C. without charges.

In the months since they saw John, Shannon and the others had tried to track him down. “The challenge that we had is that my brother kept moving my father from hotel to hotel from various jurisdictions,” she said. “He would move so frequently and so fast that we were having a difficult time finding him, but we were able to identify the hotels from his TikTok posts on social media. My brother was actually arrested at one point for making death threats against me, and Amy was actually the last person to see him.”

Amy shared, “None of us were able to talk to him. His phones were turned off. K.C. wouldn't take calls. There was no way to access him any other way.”

When the family found out he was dead, they also found out he had been cremated, and they say that may have been to stop any investigation into how he died. In a group statement, they say, “We refuse to rule out the possibility of foul play.” 

Paul noted, “No autopsy, and then why 45 days [before reporting his death]?”

Leslie added, “He told me he wanted to be buried in Jamaica. He did not want to be cremated. K.C. did that, and that's beyond his dad's wishes.”

It is about justice for Shannon. She said, “My hope out of all of this is some kind of justice, some kind of justice and I don't hate my brother. I hate who he's become. I hate what he's done.”

“Extra” reached out to K.C. Amos for his reaction to his estranged family’s accusations. He has yet to comment.