Patricia Heaton (as her character Debra Barone) had a daughter and two sons on the hit TV show Everybody Loves Raymond. Now one of those sons has died. Sawyer Sweeten, who played the role of Geoffrey Barone, on the show that starred Heaton and Ray Romano, took his life Thursday at the age of 19. Sawyer Sweeten’s twin brother, Sullivan, and their sister, Madylin Sweeten, played Ray and Debra Barone’s other kinds–Michael and Ally Barone.
Sawyer Sweeten was just 18 months old when he first played Patricia Heaton and Ray Romano’s on-screen son.
Heaton took to Twitter on Friday to mourn his passing.
Sawyer Sweeten was a funny and exceptionally bright young man. He is gone from us far too soon.
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) April 24, 2015
The entire cast of #EverybodyLovesRaymond is in shock. Prayers for the Sweeten family.
— Patricia Heaton (@PatriciaHeaton) April 24, 2015
Madylin Sweeten released a statement confirming her brother’s death.
“This morning a terrible family tragedy has occurred,” she said. “We are devastated to report that our beloved brother, son, and friend, Sawyer Sweeten, took his own life. He was weeks away from his 20th birthday. At this sensitive time, our family requests privacy and we beg of you to reach out to the ones you love.”
Surely Sawyer Sweeten’s family is grief-stricken over this senseless tragedy, but his Everybody Loves Raymond family is definitely mourning him, too. In addition to Patricia Heaton, Doris Roberts–who played Ray’s mother Marie Barone–shared her grief via social media.
It is with great sadness that I learned the news that Sawyer Sweeten, who played my grandson Geoffrey Barone on '…
Posted by Doris Roberts on Thursday, April 23, 2015
It will no doubt take Patricia Heaton, Ray Romano, and the rest of the Everybody Loves Raymond family a long time to process the suicide of Sawyer Sweeten. It’s tragic enough when a young person loses his life. When it happens at his own hand, it is almost impossible to understand.