'My heart is shattered into a million pieces,' Foxx wrote in a touching tribute on Monday.
Rest in peace, DeOndra Dixon. Jamie Foxx's younger sister has died, he revealed on Monday. She was 36.
"My heart is shattered into a million pieces... my beautiful loving sister Deondra has transitioned... I say transitioned because she will always be alive," Foxx wrote in a touching Instagram post. "Anyone who knew my sis... knew that she was a bright light."
"I can’t tell you how many times we have had parties at the house where she has got on the dance floor and stolen the show... even gave her boyfriend @chrisbrownofficial a run for his money," he joked. "Well I know she is in heaven now dancing with her wings on."
Foxx said his pain is "unbelievable," but he still smiles when he thinks of the memories he shared with his sister.
"From dancing in the blame it video… to Dancing on the Grammys… And becoming The ambassador to @globaldownsyndrome... from sliding down my stairs with a grin as wide as the rio grand... to serenading us with all of her music," he shared. "Deondra you have left A hole in my heart... but I will fill it with all of the memories that you gave me ... I love you with every ounce of me... our family is shattered but we will put the pieces back together with your love... and y’all please keep my family in your prayers... 💔💔💔."
Dixon was born to Foxx’s mother, Louise Annette Dixon, and his stepfather, George Dixon, in Dallas, Texas, in 1984. She started participating in the Special Olympics when she was in 6th grade, and competed for over nine years. After high school, Dixon moved in with Foxx and the rest of her family in California.
"I feel I was born to dance," Dixon told the Global Down Syndrome Foundation, for which she became an ambassador in 2011. "I want to be a professional dancer. My brother has given me a chance to do some special things. I danced in his video 'Blame It.' I’ve danced on stage at some of his concerts all over the country. And guess what? I’ve danced at the GRAMMYs!"
"Lots of kids with Down syndrome never get a chance to shine or chase their dreams," she added. Each one has something to offer and each one has a dream. Please help me and my family to advocate for so many beautiful and brilliant children with Down syndrome who’ve been neglected. Together we will make dreams come true."
Dixon will be honored at the Global Down Syndrome Foundation's Be Beautiful Be Yourself Fashion Show on Nov. 14. She had received the organization's highest honor, the Quincy Jones Exceptional Advocacy Award, and attended the fashion show with Foxx each year.
“Quincy Jones himself introduced us to DeOndra as one of the most articulate, irrepressible, magnetic people he had ever met,” Michelle Sie Whitten, Global's President and CEO, said in a statement. “Global has lost our talented, intelligent, feisty, beautiful, kind, loving, caring, pure and giving heart, DeOndra Dixon. Our Down syndrome community has lost a beacon of hope, a true leader, and role model whose aim was to always help others.”
See more on Foxx and his family in the video below.
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