Sinead O’Connor’s Son Has Died Days After He Was Reported Missing

Sinéad O’Connor revealed some heartbreaking news about her son on Friday. PEOPLE reported that O’Connor shared the news on Twitter, telling her followers that her 17-year-old son, Shane O’Connor, died. His death comes days after the singer shared that he had gone missing.

“My beautiful son, Nevi’im Nesta Ali Shane O’Connor, the very light of my life, decided to end his earthly struggle today and is now with God,” O’Connor tweeted on Friday. “May he rest in peace and may no one follow his example. My baby. I love you so much. Please be at peace.” O’Connor went on to pay tribute to her son in a subsequent tweet by sharing lyrics from a Bob Marley song, writing, “This is for my Shaney. The light of my life. The lamp of my soul. My blue-eye baby. You will always be my light. We will always be together. No boundary can separate us.”

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This tragic news comes a few days after O’Connor told her followers that her son was missing. At the time, she posted a photo of Shane (the same photo that she shared upon announcing his passing) and shared a message to him, which read, “This is a message for my son, Shane. Shane, it’s not funny any more all this going missing. You are scaring the crap out of me. Could you please do the right thing and present yourself at a Gardai station. If you are with Shane please call the Gardai for his safety.” She went on to tell her son in a follow-up message to not “harm” himself and urged him to contact Gardai, the national police service in Ireland.

When she initially shared that her son was missing, she called out a hospital that he was previously admitted to and claimed that they allowed Shane to get “out of their grasp.” O’Connor also noted that Shane had “made two severe suicide attempts” and that he was on “suicide watch” while in the hospital. She claimed in a tweet, “Hospital of course so far refusing to take any responsibility. Anything happens to my son on their watch? Lawsuits.” On Sunday, O’Connor stated that she had not heard from Ireland’s The Child and Family Agency about Shane’s passing. Instead, she heard about his death from Gardai. Shane was one of O’Connor’s four children. She shared him with musician Donal Lunny. The singer is also a mother to sons Jake and Yeshua and a daughter named Roisin. 

If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741-741.