Chase Stokes pays tribute to his Outer Banks stand-in who died in a hit-and-run

8 July 2022, 12:05

By Sam Prance

"My heart is shattered. Your life was just starting."

Alexander "AJ" Jennings, who worked as Chase Stokes’ stand-in on Outer Banks, has been killed in a hit-and-run. The incident took place on Tuesday (Jul 5) in North Charleston, South Carolina where Outer Banks season 3 is being filmed.

In a press release, the Charleston County Sheriff's Office stated that AJ "was walking on the road when he was hit by a vehicle that fled the area. [He] was then struck by another vehicle, which also left the scene. [He] was later transported to MUSC, where he died." The driver of the second vehicle has been found but the driver of the first is still yet to be identified.

Following AJ's tragic death, the Outer Banks casting team have released a statement and Chase Stokes has shared a touching tribute to his friend and colleague.

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A post shared by Alexander Dmitry (@alexjennings05)

In a statement via Facebook, Kimmie Stewart Casting wrote: "Outer Banks crew & cast suffered a terrible loss when AJ was stuck by two cars, that fled the scene early this morning. It is with great sadness that I share on Tuesday Alexander 'AJ' Jennings' mother informed me of his tragic death.

They continued: "AJ was a beautiful, kind soul & a bright light every day on set. He moved to Charleston from New York to work as our John B photo double/stand in this season. I cannot fathom the shock and tragedy of AJ's sudden loss and our thoughts are with his family and friends during this difficult time".

They ended the statement saying: "I am still at a loss of words how this happened & cannot imagine the pain his family is going through. We will miss this amazing human & his infectious smile dearly."

Meanwhile, Chase Stokes took to Instagram stories yesterday (Jul 6) to write: "Still trying to process why certain things happen, and why the world works in the ways that it does. My heart is shattered. Your life was just starting. We JUST talked about how pumped you were about your tunes, how far you'd come with that ole 6 string and your want to keep creating art."

He ended by writing: "Always always making others hearts warm and being so damn selfless. I wish I had more words to say right now, but the past day has been a struggle to say the least. We all love you, you touched all of our lives and made us all better people, and for that - Thank you AJ. Fly high angel."

Our thoughts and condolences are with AJ's friends, family and colleagues during this time.