Everybody Loves Raymond child star suffered tragic death after show ended
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Health, Mental Health
Mia Williams
Featured Image Credit: Monty Brinton/CBS Photo Archive/Getty/Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Topics: Film and TV, Celebrity, Health, Mental Health
Warning: This article contains discussion of suicide which some readers may find distressing
A child star from Everybody Loves Raymond took his own life as a teen in the years after the show came to an end.
The American sitcom premiered 28 years ago, when child star Sawyer Sweeten was just 16-months-old.
Despite having very few lines, he took on the role of Geoffrey Barone - Raymond's onscreen son.
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And whilst the weight of being a child star is certainly a heavy one, Sawyer had the deal of sharing the screen alongside his identical twin brother Sullivan.
Their older sister Madylin also appeared on the show, playing their sibling Ally Barone.
Until the show was cancelled in 2005, viewers grew to love Sawyer as he became one of the show's most valued cast members.
Agd just nine when the show ended, it seemed as though he had the world at his fingertips.
That was until 10 years later, when things all came crashing down for the young man.
Despite showing no signs of struggling with his mental health, Sawyer tragically took his own life at the age of 19.
He shot himself while visiting family in Texas in April of 2015.
His then-manager Dino May shared the news with the world, but stressed that Sawyer had not shown any signs that there was anything wrong with him.
Speaking to the press, he said: "Everybody was shocked. There was no depression, no nothing. He was a good kid. Teenage stuff, but no depression, no signs or anything."
Despite these claims, his cousin Jacklyn Stines stressed that the child star had been struggling with severe depression.
She didn't know exactly what had caused him to become so depressed, but was certain he was suffering.
Jacklyn said: "There is a history of depression in the family, all through. Many of them are on medication for depression."
A post-mortem of the 19-year-olds body revealed that there were drugs in his system at the time he took his life. Traces of marijuana were found in his blood, although how it got there was never established.
Four years after his death, his family and friends gathered at St. Matthew Lutheran Church in North Hollywood, California, to restore an old theatre in his name.
They named the theatre Sawyer's Playhouse, with a plaque that read: "May this place be a light for all to find safety and friendship through creativity."
If you or someone you know is struggling or in a mental health crisis, help is available through Mental Health America. Call or text 988 or chat 988lifeline.org. You can also reach Crisis Text Line by texting MHA to 741741.