The sister of late Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte has shared an emotional tribute to her brother, weeks after his death at the age of 34.
Mitte, who rose to fame playing Walter Jr on the acclaimed TV drama, died on 12 October, with a representative later confirming that he had taken his own life.
On Friday (23 October), Lacianne Carriere, Mitte’s sister and a former child actor herself, shared a poignant message with followers on Instagram, along a selection of photos and videos of Mitte.
“There are just no words. You were just here,” she wrote. “Your strawberry Fanta was still sitting on my coffee table when I got the call. Life hasn’t felt real since then.”
She continued: “Rj you were my everything. I just lost my other half. I lost my brother but I also lost my father… Every single aspect of my personality is because of your influence. My music taste, my film taste the video games I love… because of you I am a collector, you taught me that even the smallest piece of paper can be a precious memory later on.”
Carriere, 22, described her brother as “the life of the party” who “made me, me”.
“We had so much more to do, so many more memories to be shared and I don’t know if my heart can ever be whole again after losing the biggest piece of it,” she continued. “I just really need my brother right now… You would put on some lofi music and tell me to get up and go sit in the shower, how it always makes you feel better.
“I know you’re telling me right now that I’ll be okay though I don’t know how I will. But I promise I’m going to do my hardest and I promise your love will always live through me until the day I see you again.”
At the end of the message, Carriere included links to a suicide and crisis hotline, telling followers that “my DMs are open” and “you are not alone”.
Concluding her message to her late sibling, she wrote: “I loved you completely. And you loved me the same. That’s all. The rest is confetti.”
Mitte opened up about his childhood in a 2016 interview, revealing that he had become the family’s “main breadwinner” around the age of 13, when his mother was paralysed for six years following a road accident shortly after his sister’s birth.
“She was in a car accident – a car ploughed into her at 40mph – and ruptured her spine. Afterwards, she couldn’t lift Lacey because of the operations she’d had. So I took care of Lacey,” Mitte, who was diagnosed with cerebral palsy aged three, said.
“There’s a 12-year gap between us and her dad wasn’t really around, so I guess I was a bit of a father figure to her as well as a brother. I changed her diapers, made up her bottles, fed her, rocked her, bathed her – everything, I did it.”
If you are experiencing feelings of distress, or are struggling to cope, you can speak to the Samaritans, in confidence, on 116 123 (UK and ROI), email jo@samaritans.org, or visit the Samaritans website to find details of your nearest branch.
If you are based in the USA, and you or someone you know needs mental health assistance right now, call the National Suicide Prevention Helpline on 1-800-273-TALK (8255). This is a free, confidential crisis hotline that is available to everyone 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you are in another country, you can go to www.befrienders.org to find a helpline near you.
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