Cosby Show kid dies in a car accident.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 8:24am

Awwwww. He played the son of Elvin and Sandra, Cliff's daughter. (curly hair, light complexion, played opposite a "twin sister" character) This reminds me of 2002, when Merlin Santana (Rudy's boyfriend Stanley on The Cosby Show and Romeo on the Steve Harvey Show) was shot to death. Life can be so fleeting.
---------------
Everett Wilson, 17, student, child actor

BY CYNTHIA DANIELS
STAFF WRITER

January 19, 2005

Everett Wilson was a good-humored teen who worked diligently at his church, dreamed of becoming a professional basketball player, and had just received his driving permit.

Wilson was killed Jan. 8 when the car he was riding in left the road, striking a utility pole and then a pickup truck along Route 25 near Fresh Pond Avenue in Calverton. He was 17.

The car's driver, an acquaintance of Wilson's, was arrested at the scene on charges of driving while intoxicated, Riverhead Town police said.

Wilson's mother, Mary Lou Wilson, of Calverton, remembered him for his upbeat personality. "He made everybody happy," she said. "When you were down and out he was always there to pick you up and make you laugh."

Everett Wilson was a junior at Riverhead High School. Guidance counselor Christy Van Hoesen said Wilson was determined to excel at his schoolwork and described him as "outgoing, friendly, upbeat and always smiling."

"He was a great kid," she said, recalling how classmates gathered in the school library to remember him. "He's really going to be missed a lot."

Though his personality lit up a room, Wilson kept a fun fact on hand to break the ice when necessary: as a toddler, he briefly appeared on NBC's "The Cosby Show" with his twin brother, Ronald. The pair played Cosby's grandson, Nelson Tibideaux, one half of twins Winnie and Nelson.

"He talked about it all the time," said Linda Cowell-Pritchard of Riverhead, a family friend whom Everett called his second mother. "When he met people, he would bring it up ... That was something that just put a big spark [in him]."

Cosby wasn't the only topic that excited Wilson. He was also active at Friendship Baptist Church in Riverhead, serving on the junior usher board, the youth ministry choir and as summer enrichment counselor for the church's community service center.

"He was just really active," said Cowell-Pritchard, also the church's youth ministry director. "He lived his life letting [young people] know 'yes, you can be young and have fun, but you can have fun in the Lord' ... there was just something special about him."

Besides his mother and twin brother, Wilson is survived by his father, Everett Jackson of Calverton; brothers, Daryl Wilson of Flanders and Thomas Wilson of Calverton; and a sister, Sandra Wilson of Brentwood.

A funeral for Wilson was held Saturday at Friendship Baptist Church. He was buried in Riverhead Cemetery.

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 9:17am

This is so sad! People please stop this DUI. Dont hurt someone because you won't admit you're drunk! Call a cab, call a friend, call a parent, but DONT GET BEHIND THE WHEEL!

And what makes Merlin Santana's murder even more senseless is that he was killed over a false allegation of rape. He turned the girl down and, in retaliation for the rejection, she told her brother and cousin that he raped her. She later admitted that she lied and has been charged with murder as well.

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 9:18am

I hate these stories. The death of a child is always the hardest thing in the world, and when it's preventable - ugh. Just awful. My heart goes out to this boy's family.

[sweetiedarlinmia]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 9:24am

Here's for eerieness. I just went MSN to see if they had anything about it and there was an article about Lamont Bentley, who played Hakeem on Moesha (Brandy's sitcom),dying in a car crash as well. Augh!

These poor families are in my prayers. All this senseless dying...

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 9:26am

Wow, Mia! This is too awful.

[Glebb]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 9:27am

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 10:51am

I hate it when real life is like a very special episode.

[Jon]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 10:58am

My first thought: Please let it be that Peter kid.

Just kidding.

[EvelynNesbit1906]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 2:15pm

It is pretty eerie that "Hakeem" died in a car accident yesterday too. And he flew through the windshield, didn't he? Jeez... makes me really glad that I'm almost never inside a car.

"My first thought: Please let it be that Peter kid."

I feel so guilty for repeatedly reading this and laughing.

[Kimsus123]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 3:53pm

awful

[marincrazy11]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 4:05pm

this is really sad.

[brdwaybaby17]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 5:05pm

Where was that article?

[laactress]

Posted: 1/20/05 at 5:22pm

One of my closest friends died by a drunk driver hitting her head on and I will never forgive the as*hole who walked away with bumps and bruises.

My thoughts and preyers are with all the families that are loosing loved ones.