Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte to be honoured in public in Brownsville

The community of Brownsville, Texas, will gather on Friday to celebrate the life of Breaking Bad star RJ Mitte, who died on Monday at the age of 34. 

The celebration of life will be held at 10am at The Mitte: Arts and Cultural Center, 660 Ringgold Street, and is open to all. 

City Commissioner Tino Villarreal announced it “on behalf of Dyna Mitte”, the actor’s mother, inviting everyone to celebrate “the life of her son and our friend”.

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The family has asked that memorial contributions go to the Mitte Foundation and cerebral palsy research in place of flowers. 

Brownsville police confirmed Mitte’s death on Monday, and a justice of the peace declared him dead at about 1:32pm at his home. 

An autopsy will be performed. TMZ has reported, citing a county official, that he died by suicide.

The venue is closely tied to Mitte. He was president of the Roy F. and Joann Cole Mitte Foundation, established by his grandparents, and was guest of honour last August when the city rebranded the Brownsville Museum of Fine Art as The Mitte. 

Brownsville Mayor John Cowen Jr. called him a “force for good”, and the district’s executive director, Daniella Lopez Valdez, said simply that “RJ believed in Brownsville”. 

Residents laid flowers at the cultural district on Monday.

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