Keyshawn Johnson’s daughter Mia has died at 25, as the former NFL star receiver announced in a Twitter post on Monday, confirming the sad news.
The current ESPN analyst Keyshawn Johnson making the announcement said:
“It is with incredible sadness that I have to share the news about the passing of my beautiful Daughter Maia,” Johnson said Monday.
“Maia, as my first born child, has been the joy of my, and her Mother Shikiri’s, life.”
According to the report by TMZ, which broke the news, Keyshawn Johnson’s daughter Maia was Johnson’s first child with Shikiri Hightower, whom he was married to from 1998-2002.
They also had a son, Keyshawn Jr., in 1998. Johnson also has two children with his current wife, Jennifer Conrad.
Johnson added “She came into our lives just as we were both coming of age as adults and has been a constant beloved presence for both of us.”
“We are heartbroken and devastated by her loss. Shikiri, Maia’s siblings, our family and me appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this difficult time.”
No cause of death has been revealed publicly at this point.
In Dec. 2017, Hightower posted photos on Instagram celebrating Maia’s 22nd birthday and recounted how her daughter was born just four months before Johnson was selected No. 1 overall in the 1996 NFL draft by the New York Jets.
“We went from inconspicuously driving you around campus in a beat up used Honda to life in a fish bowl, all eyes on us, without us truly understanding what that meant,” Hightower described. “My fearless, beautiful, intelligent, well-traveled, resourceful daughter, my mini-me, throughout our journey, we literally have been growing up, figuring life out, together.”
Across 11 seasons in the NFL, Johnson played for the Jets, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers.
Several of Keyshawn’s current and former ESPN colleagues have shared their condolences following the announcement.