Sister Blames Brother for John Amos' Death

Last week the late actor John Amos' daughter, Shannon Amos, confirmed that an elder abuse investigation was being conducted against her brother, K.C. Amos, after the family was not notified of John Amos' passing until 45 days after he died [click here if you missed that].

Now Shannon has named K.C. in a wrongful death lawsuit...

From The Hollywood Reporter

A dispute over the estate of John Amos has turned to court, with the actor’s daughter suing her brother and people in his orbit for elder abuse, fraud and wrongful death.

Shannon Amos accuses Kelly Christopher Amos of manipulating their father into signing various legal documents — including new wills, trusts and powers of attorney — that gave him near-complete control over the estate while ignoring the actor’s medical needs.

The petition also names John Amos’ former caretaker Belinda Foster, close associate Eugene Brummett and his production banner Step and One Half Productions. It seeks a court order to freeze the estate’s assets.

John Amos died last year in Los Angeles of natural causes. The passing was announced by K.C. Amos, who said that his father was a “man with the kindest heart and a heart of gold.”

The filing of the legal action follows a 2023 report from The Hollywood Reporter documenting an acrimonious battle between the children of the Good Times legend over his care and finances.

The lawsuit chronicles the last years of John Amos’ life. Around 2019, K.C. Amos started to keep his father from family and friends by shuffling him around various locations while monitoring his communications, at times impersonating him in text messages and emails, the petition alleges.

“This calculated and cruel isolation was explicitly designed to render John Amos entirely dependent on K.C. Amos for all of his personal, financial, and critical medical decisions,” states the filing, which notes that Foster and Brummett “knowingly participated” in the scheme. “For instance, K.C. Amos falsely and maliciously accused numerous trusted individuals, such as dedicated caregivers and loving family members, of theft or abuse in order to justify his isolation.”

On multiple occasions, John Amos was left alone in unsafe and unsanitary conditions, according to the petition. In an affidavit, Leslie Franklin, a longtime friend, said the actor was kept in hotels surrounded by numerous bags of soiled adult diapers and trash. Shannon Amos was allegedly told by her father’s doctors that his medications weren’t being properly administered. In 2023, he was treated for an infection in his feet caused by maggots — one of numerous hospitalizations that year, prompting a call from Adult Protective Services over his care, the filing says.

Shannon Amos claims that her father, whose mental capacity was rapidly declining, was tricked into signing new wills and trusts that benefited K.C. Amos at her expense. Neither she nor the other beneficiaries of his will are receiving any money from the estate, says the petition, filed in California state court last month. In 2020, K.C. Amos filed documents reflecting his sole ownership of Step and One Half Productions, giving him control of money that flows through the company.

The petition faults K.C. Amos for his father’s death. In August 2024, the actor was experiencing severe abdominal pain, but Foster, who told doctors she was his daughter, didn’t take him to a hospital until it was too late, the filing says.

“What K.C. Amos, Belinda Foster, and Eugene Brummett did in the last years of my father’s life is unfathomable, cruel, and beyond my comprehension,” said Shannon Amos in a statement.