Malcolm-Jamal Warner was swimming with his 8-year-old daughter when he fatally drowned

Malcolm-Jamal Warner was not alone when he drowned in Costa Rica at the age of 54 on Sunday.

According to ABC News, “The Cosby Show” alum was swimming with his 8-year-old daughter at the time.

According to police officials, surfers saw Warner and his daughter struggling in the water. A surfer dove in and brought the child back to safety on his board.

A volunteer lifeguard then pulled Warner and a second surfer back to shore, where the “Malcolm and Eddie” star was given CPR for 45 minutes, per the report.

On Monday, Costa Rican National Police confirmed to The Post that bystanders had pulled Warner from the water and taken him to shore.

The Costa Rica Red Cross made revival efforts, but the attempts were unsuccessful.

Warner’s body was transported to the morgue at San Joaquin de Flores for an autopsy. His cause of death is listed as asphyxiation by “submersion.” 

On Wednesday, TMZ reported that Warner’s body has been released to the family. He will be flown back to Los Angeles.

Sources told the outlet that the sitcom star’s body will leave Costa Rica on Thursday and arrive in Los Angeles on Friday morning.

According to the insiders, the U.S. Embassy is working alongside Warner’s family to return his body to the United States.

Another source revealed to TMZ that Warner was in Costa Rica with his daughter for a home-schooling program. His wife was allegedly not in the country at the time of his death and learned about the tragedy over the phone.

After the Emmy nominee’s accidental drowning, Playa Grande lifeguards claim they were “not present” on the beach when the incident occurred due to lack of “resources.”

“We deeply regret the passing of Malcolm-Jamal Warner at Playa Grande. He was swept away by a strong rip current and died by drowning,” Costa Rica’s volunteer lifeguard association, Caribbean Guard, stated on Monday via Facebook.

“It all happened very quickly, and although there were people on the beach who entered the water to rescue him, they did not arrive in time. He was pulled from underwater without vital signs, and despite CPR maneuvers being performed on the beach, resuscitation was unsuccessful,” the message continued.

The Guard went on to explain how Playa Grande is well known by “local surfers” but is one of their “most challenging beaches.”

The statement added that there are signs placed along the beach in both Spanish and English “warning of the danger of death due to drowning.” The Guard shared they had patrolled there “over the past few years,” but not at the time of Warner’s death.

“Due to recent aquatic incidents in Playa Negra, we had redirected resources there and to Chiquita, another iconic beach known for its strong currents,” the statement noted.

The social media post included a message addressed to Costa Rica President Rodrigo Chaves Robles and the government. 

“From Caribbean Guard, a volunteer lifeguard association, we make an urgent appeal to the President of the Nation, the national government, the Municipality of Talamanca, and the entire Caribbean community to continue joining forces to minimize this problem, which, sadly, is on the rise ACROSS THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.”

“We do everything within our reach,” concluded the statement. “We have saved numerous lives in recent years, and if Caribbean Guard didn’t exist, the number of drownings would be counted in dozens. We give everything we have to minimize the risks, but without help from the government, clear public policies, and strong support from local business owners, this will continue to happen.”

Warner first rose to fame playing Theodore “Theo” Huxtable, the son of Bill Cosby’s Cliff Huxtable, in “The Cosby Show.”

The sitcom ran on NBC for eight seasons from 1984 to 1992. Warner garnered a 1986 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series.

In 2021, the late star spoke with The Post about the legacy of the series after Cosby’s sexual assault conviction before it was overturned.

“I can understand why some people can’t watch the show and enjoy it because of everything that’s going on now,” Warner said. “But I think … there’s a generation of young people who have pursued higher education or have started loving families because of the influence of that show.”

“So it’s kind of like, you can’t discount its impact on television culture and American culture,” he added. Cosby addressed Warner’s death, revealing it felt like losing his own son, who was murdered in 1997.

“While I was their TV dad, I never stopped being a father to them,” he told The Post through his rep.

Prior to his death, Warner had relocated from Hollywood to Atlanta, Georgia, during his multi-season run on the Fox show “The Resident” from 2018 to 2023.

“I think he decided to come to Atlanta just because it felt a bit more grounded. It felt more like a home to him,” Dashiell Smith, one of the actor’s best friends and bandmates, told The Post on Wednesday.

After purchasing a $1.3 million, five-bedroom house in the suburb of Decatur, Warner told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution in 2023 that, “Music and my wife and daughter keep me from losing my s–t.”