A stream of die hard fans were shocked to hear Nelson Ellis, best known for playing Lafayette Reynolds in HBO’s True Blood, has died at 39.

“We were extremely saddened to hear of the passing of Nelsan Ellis,” HBO said in a statement. “Nelsan was a long-time member of the HBO family whose groundbreaking portrayal of Lafayette will be remembered fondly within the overall legacy of True Blood. Nelsan will be dearly missed by his fans and all of us at HBO.”

Nelson’s manager told CNN the cause of death was complications from heart failure.