Jas Waters: Cause Of Death Revealed For ‘This Is Us’ Writer Who Was 39 – Update

UPDATED, 3:15 PM:  A cause of death has been revealed for TV writer and journalist Jas Waters. The Los Angeles County Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office said Thursday that Waters died June 9 by hanging. The manner of death was ruled a suicide. Waters was 39.

News of the death of Waters, who was a writer on This is Us and most recently Kidding, was confirmed Wednesday by This Is Us writers on their official Twitter account.

“The entire #ThisIsUs family was devastated to learn of Jas Waters passing,” the statement read. “In our time together, Jas left her mark on us and ALL over the show. She was a brilliant storyteller and a force of nature. We send our deepest sympathies to her loved ones. She was one of us. RIP @JasFly.”

Waters worked on the second season of NBC’s flagship drama series This Is Us. She most recently wrote on Showtime’s Kidding. Her other TV writing credits include VH1’s The Breaks and Comedy Central’s Hood Adjacent with James Davis. She also has a story-by credit on the Taraji P. Henson feature What Men Want.

This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman said of Waters on Twitter, “This news took my breath away. Jas was absolutely brilliant and had so many stories still to tell. She made an indelible mark on our show and my heart breaks for her loved ones. RIP @JasFly” This Is Us stars Mandy Moore and Susan Kelechi Watson also paid tribute to Waters.

Prior to her work in television, Waters was a columnist for Vibe magazine.

In a 2018 interview with Shadow and Act, Waters talked about her road to becoming a screenwriter. “I was raised in an old folks’ home. I never had a traditional life; I never had a safe, cookie-cutter, predictable, affirming life. From the moment I got here, the rules didn’t apply to me. If the basic rules of raising a kid didn’t apply to me, then nothing else really applies to me. So I just had to figure it out. There were several times in my life that I found to be very confining. But as I look back on it, it was very freeing,” she said.

Anita Bennett contributed to this story.

If you or someone you know is at risk of suicide please call the U.S. National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 800-273-8255, text TALK to 741741 or go to SpeakingOfSuicide.com/resourcesfor additional resources.