Malcolm-Jamal Warner's mother 'still numb' over his shock passing at 54 as she reveals details from his final day

Malcolm-Jamal Warner's momager Pamela is 'still numb' five months after his shock passing, at age 54, from accidentally drowning in Costa Rica.

'He was my confidante,' the Show Biz Consulting 411 CEO told Us Weekly on Thursday.

'There's nothing you can do about [his death], and anything other than acceptance is nonproductive. I'm at peace because there's nothing I can do, and because he and I were in a very good space. I don't have the shoulda, woulda, couldas.'

Pamela - who divorced the Grammy-winning musician's father Robert when he was three - continued: 'I feel him. His father talks to him every day. I don't do that, but I do feel his presence very strongly.'

The grieving mother first learned of Warner's death when his best friend visited her at home.

'I said, "Is this about Malcolm?" and he said yes. And then I just went into outer space. I said, "Is he dead?" and he shook his head, and I completely lost it,' Pamela recalled.

'I yelled so loud. I live on a cul-de-sac, and my neighbors came running out of the house. They could hear it. The level of grief is something unimaginable.'

Warner's final text to his mom was a video of him with his eight-year-old daughter in Costa Rica where the homeschooled girl was enrolled in a Spanish language immersion program.

The Emmy-nominated actor's psychologist wife Tenisha and child were on the shore of Playa Cocles in Limón Province on July 20 when he got caught in a rip current, and he received CPR for 45 minutes before being pronounced dead at the scene.

The unidentified man who was 'not an experienced swimmer' but survived the same rip tide as Warner later met with Pamela to help cope with his 'tremendous' survivor's guilt.

'He needed to know I held nothing against him,' the former Ms. Goodcookie founder explained.

'He has a daughter, like Malcolm did. So he had to save himself. He was being pulled out to sea, and he had to fight. When we left our meeting, he felt relieved. It was healing for him.'

Pamela - who named the Not All Hood podcaster after Malcolm X and jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal - claimed she didn't think he was 'at peace' in the after life.

'I think he's very concerned about all of us [and] his wife and daughter. And I believe he's doing whatever he can from that side to give them comfort,' she said.

'We give people in front of the camera an extra something, but he just wanted to be seen as a human being. He'd begun transformational coaching. That was going to be a new way of serving people.'

In September, Tenisha launched the Warner Family Foundation to provide Malcolm-Jamal Warner Creative Legacy Scholarship for creative artists aged 14-22, and Pamela founded the Malcolm-Jamal Warner Living Legacy foundation.

Warner's last acting gigs were guest-starring as Richard Bannister in the October 7 episode of Fox's Murder in a Small Town as well as a three-episode stint as Chief Inspector Bill Houston in Fox's Alert: Missing Persons Unit this year.

The New Jersey-born, LA-raised star was also known for his work in The Resident (2018-2023), Reed Between the Lines (2011-2015), Listen Up (2004-2005), Jeremiah (2002-2004), Malcom & Eddie (1996-2000) and The Magic School Bus (1994-1997).

But Warner is best remembered for his breakout role as the disgraced Bill Cosby's onscreen son Theo Huxtable in NBC sitcom The Cosby Show, which aired over eight seasons spanning 1984-1992.

On September 14, the former child star's onscreen mother Phylicia Rashad paid tribute to his legacy during the in memoriam segment at the 77th Primetime Emmy Awards.

'He was a beloved teenager in an iconic television series whom the world watched grow into man,' the 77-year-old Tony winner said onstage LA's Peacock Theater.

'And like all our friends and colleagues who transitioned this past year, Malcolm-Jamal Warner remains in our hearts.'