Samuel Monroe Jr remains on life support in a Los Angeles hospital as his family weighs whether to continue treatment after doctors warned he could be left in a vegetative state. Shawna Stewart said the family will wait for several more brain scans before making the next move.
Stewart said the family has agreed to allow another three or four CT scans before reviewing the results. That is the point now: those scans are the threshold for deciding whether life support continues or ends.
Shawna Stewart on the scans
Stewart has described a long medical crisis that began roughly 18 months before his April hospitalization, when Monroe Jr. contracted meningitis while filming in Las Vegas. She said he was repeatedly misdiagnosed, and that the meningitis went untreated for eight months.
By the time doctors identified the infection, Stewart said, “it had already spread not only to his spine but also to his brain.” She also said, “Because of this negligence, the meningitis went untreated for eight months.”
Monroe Jr's brain surgeries
Monroe Jr. is currently in a medically induced coma, with swelling in his brain still a major concern. His enlarged ventricles are unable to properly contain cerebral fluid, he has had seizures from the complications, and he has undergone three brain surgeries.
Doctors have also dealt with other setbacks. At one point, they were able to discontinue dialysis after his kidney function improved and take him off blood pressure medication, and he was able to breathe without a ventilator for four hours. He even became alert enough to respond to questions by moving his head.
Menace II Society and GoFundMe
His condition later worsened again, along with MRSA pneumonia, and his treatment has required life support, dialysis and multiple blood transfusions. Monroe Jr., best known for Menace II Society, also appeared in Set It Off, Tales from the Hood, Don’t Be a Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood and The Players Club.
The family launched a GoFundMe in April as the hospitalization and medical expenses continued. The next turning point sits inside those three or four CT scans: if they show no realistic path forward, the family could withdraw life support; if they show enough improvement, treatment continues.
