How did Liza Morales and Lamar Odom's son die? 'Basketball Wives' star to address loss of 6-month-old Jayden
When Liza Morales first appeared on 'Basketball Wives' Season 9, social media users were quick to dismiss her as boring and someone with no concrete stories. But that's definitely not the case.
In an interview with FOX5, the single mom of two, Destiny, 23, and Lamar Jr, 19, expressed that she was glad to share her story on the reality TV show and that it gave her the opportunity to address past issues.
READ MORE
Although she wasn't clear about what she'd be talking about on the show, during the interview, Liza did share about how she was diagnosed with severe depression after the tragic and sudden death of her and Lamar Odom's third child.
How did 6-month-old Jayden die?
Liza and Lamar lost him to Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) on June 29, 2006. While Liza barely spoke at length about the loss, Lamar detailed the timeline leading up to the tragedy in his memoir 'Darkness to Light'.
On the morning of the infant's death, Liza woke up to check on him. When she found him lying on his stomach peacefully, she went to the kitchen to join her mother but was alarmed when she asked what had happened to Jayden. "His face was a dark blue. He wasn't breathing. Liza screamed hysterically. Liza's mother, a registered nurse, immediately took Jayden," Lamar wrote in his book.
Liza made a call to 911 and alerted the officials about the emergency, who then dispatched an ambulance that rushed Jayden to the hospital. Lamar who was away in Manhattan couldn't fathom what he was hearing when Liza told him that their son was being taken to the ER.
When the NBA star arrived, he was ushered to a private room where Liza sat wrapped in a hospital anxiously waiting to hear from the doctor. He didn't have good news for the couple. "Fifteen minutes after I got there, a doctor entered the room and grasped Liza's hand. There were tears in the doctor's eyes.'I'm sorry', she said. 'As a mother I've experienced crib death, too'," Lamar recalled the heartbreaking moment.
"It just didn't make sense to us. How could our baby just die in his crib? This couldn't be a real thing. I was stunned, numb, almost emotionless. I couldn't move," he further elaborated. Evidently, it was a jarring experience for the couple who split shortly after their child's death. While Liza battled depression, Lamar got sucked into the rabbit hole that is sex and drug addiction.
Here's hoping Liza is able to use 'BBW' as a platform to share her deepest feelings surrounding the loss and in the process, heal a bit more.
Catch all the new episodes of 'Basketball Wives' on VH1 every Tuesday at 8/7c. For more information, check your local listings.
