So Sad: #RHOSLC Star Mary Cosby’s Son, Robert Cosby Jr., Dies At 23
There’s a heartbreaking update to share about the son of a Real Housewife of Salt Lake City. TMZ reports that Mary Cosby’s son, Robert Cosby Jr., has died at 23.
The outlet reports that Robert died Monday in Utah. Salt Lake City police responded Monday night to a call for a “full arrest/medical emergency” involving a 23-year-old male. Authorities reported that the situation became a death investigation upon arrival. TMZ adds that the official cause of death has not been confirmed, though officers initially responded to what was described as a possible overdose.
Robert Jr. had appeared alongside his mother on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.
He was the only child of Mary and Robert Cosby Sr., the leaders of Faith Temple Pentecostal Church in Salt Lake City. PEOPLE reports that Mary and Robert Sr. welcomed their son in 2002 after trying to start a family for four years, she revealed during a Season 5 episode.
“Robert was like the perfect child,” Mary said in a confessional interview. “He was very good in school. He got straight A’s all the way up until he graduated. When he set his mind to do something, he did it. He was like our prize, very smart, very advanced.”
Cosby made headlines in a Season 5 episode that aired in November 2024, Robert Jr., when he emotionally opened up to his mother about a years-long battle with substance abuse. He admitted he began using Xanax at 16 after trying it at a party and later abused other prescription drugs, including Adderall and OxyContin, at times taking as many as 10 pills at once. “I couldn’t even feel it,” he said. As his addiction escalated, he revealed that he had also tried heroin.
He also tearfully told his mother he contemplated suicide.
“I felt like a stain — I just felt like this world wasn’t for me,” Robert Jr. told the pastor. “You’re the only reason I didn’t kill myself.”
Mary tearfully blamed herself in subsequent episodes, telling cameras she felt she had “let him down somewhere” and “missed the mark.” “If I don’t blame myself, whose fault is it? I feel I’m responsible,” she said.
Robert Jr. later completed a month-long stint in rehab, which Mary confirmed during a December 2024 appearance on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen.
PEOPLE reports that in November 2025, he was arrested and accused of violating a pretrial protective order. That same month, he pleaded guilty to eight of 14 charges, including felony property damage greater than or equal to $5,000, two counts of violation of a pretrial protective order, assault on a peace officer, violation of a jail release court order, two counts of criminal trespass on a dwelling with intent to cause annoyance, injury or fear, and misdemeanor assault. Six remaining misdemeanor charges were dismissed with prejudice.
He was booked into Salt Lake County Jail in November 2025 and was being held without bail pending a February 2026 sentencing hearing.
Robert Cosby Jr. was 23.
Mary Cosby has not yet publicly commented on her son’s death.
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