Isaiah Washington, the former Grey’s Anatomy star, has disclosed that his wife of 29 years, Jenisa Garland, died in June 2025 after a sudden stroke, a loss he kept private for 16 months.
Washington, 63, announced her death in an Instagram post on Saturday, October 3, alongside a black-and-white photo of Garland. He opened with a nod to speculation, writing that the rumors were true. His wife collapsed on May 31, 2025, and died nine days later, on June 9. A massive hemorrhagic stroke caused her death, and she never regained consciousness.
“It came as a huge shock to me and our entire family,” Washington wrote.
He used the post to deliver a health warning. Persistent headaches, he said, can signal something far more dangerous than a migraine, and he urged followers to get a brain scan if they can and take such symptoms seriously.
The couple married on Valentine’s Day in 1996, after meeting at a dinner party. They have three children: sons Isaiah V and Tyme, and a daughter, Iman. Washington said Garland left them behind to carry on her legacy.
Garland’s preference for privacy shaped the delay. Washington acknowledged that she guarded her personal life closely and joked that she would reprimand him from the other side for sharing the news. Coverage of the post says the family grieved largely out of public view until now.
Reports on the announcement differ in small details. Several outlets place it on Saturday, while others cite Friday or Sunday. One outlet misstated the time since her death as 13 months, though Washington himself wrote 16.
Washington rose to fame as Dr. Preston Burke on Grey’s Anatomy and later appeared in P-Valley from 2020 to 2022. He retired from acting in 2023. Fellow celebrities posted condolences after the announcement.
Garland’s death came only a couple of years after that retirement, and the family has not said whether any memorial or charity effort will follow.
