ER Star Eriq La Salle Speaks Out on Vanessa Marquez's Reported Death
Eriq La Salle is speaking out about his former ER costar Vanessa Marquez, who was reportedly identified as the 49-year-old woman authorities say was shot and killed by police in South Pasadena, California, on Thursday afternoon.
“We tragically lost a member of our ER family yesterday. Vanessa Marquez played a nurse when the show first aired,” La Salle, 56, tweeted Friday.
“Sending out condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in eternal peace,” added La Salle, who played Dr. Peter Benton on the series.
We tragically lost a member of our ER family yesterday. Vanessa Marquez played a nurse when the show first aired. Sending out condolences to her family and friends. May she rest in eternal peace.
— Eriq La Salle (@EriqLaSalle23) August 31, 2018
Marquez’s name and age were confirmed by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department — which is leading the investigation of the officer-involved shooting — but a spokesman tells PEOPLE he can not confirm it was the actress who appeared in ER, Melrose Place, Stand and Deliver and other film and TV projects.
According to the L.A. Times, the Hollywood Reporter and other news outlets, it was the same Marquez.
Last October, Marquez wrote a Facebook post in which she accused La Salle of sexual misconduct, including allegedly grabbing her genitals.
Vanessa Marquez on ERLa Salle did not respond to PEOPLE’s request to comment.
Marquez also alleged the other actors made “daily attacks on my Mexican heritage” and accused ER costar George Clooney of contributing to her being “blacklisted.”
“Clooney helped blacklist me when I spoke up abt harassment on ER. ‘Women who don’t play the game lose career’ I did,” Marquez said, according to Page Six.
Clooney, however, denied the claims, according to a statement obtained by The Hollywood Reporter.
“I take her at her word. I was not a writer or a producer or a director on that show. I had nothing to do with casting. I was an actor and only an actor. If she was told I was involved in any decision about her career then she was lied to. The fact that I couldn’t affect her career is only surpassed by the fact that I wouldn’t,” Clooney added.
Marquez was reportedly shot following a welfare check at an apartment complex for someone “who was possibly suffering from a medical condition,” according to authorities.
Police claim they came across a woman who “became uncooperative.” She was then shot around 1:48 p.m. after she allegedly “armed herself” with a BB gun and pointed it at officers,” the South Pasadenan reported.
