Janis Timma recently went through a divorce with Ukrainian singer and actress Anna Sedokova
Latvian basketball player Janis Timma has committed suicide in Moscow, multiple media outlets reported on Tuesday. The athlete had recently divorced Ukrainian singer and actress Anna Sedokova.
”The body of 32-year-old Janis Timma was found in the entrance of a residential building in central Moscow. The preliminary cause of death is suicide,” news agencies quoted a police source as saying.
The Latvian Basketball Union confirmed Timma’s death.
A mobile phone was found lying next to Timma’s body, containing what’s believed to be his final wish, the source told TASS news agency. According to television network REN TV, the message on the phone screen read “Call Anna,” and displayed a phone number.
Media reports claim the player either fell from a great height or died of asphyxiation.
Timma had been a long-time player on the Latvian national basketball team and in the Baltic Basketball League. He played five seasons in the Euroleague, suiting up for Spanish club Baskonia, Greece’s Olympiacos, and Russian clubs Khimki and UNICS.
Sedokova, 42, is a Ukrainian-born singer, actress, and television personality who has pursued a successful career in Russia. She rose to prominence in 2002 as a member of a Ukrainian pop girl band.
Timma and Sedokova married in 2020. The marriage was reported to be tumultuous with the couple breaking up and reconciling several times. According to media reports, the marriage broke down because of financial issues and work forcing the couple to live apart.
The 42-year-old singer filed for divorce in October, reportedly prompting Timma to fly to Moscow from the US to try and save their relationship. The couple was officially divorced on December 9. They had no children together.
Sedokova marked her 42nd birthday on Monday, a day before her ex-husband’s death. In an Instagram post following Timma’s passing, the singer claimed that over the past few years her life was “hell”.
According to Russia’s veteran newspaper Sport Express, Timma was previously subjected to harassment in Latvia because of playing in Russia. The Baltic country banned its athletes from signing contracts with Russian clubs in 2022. The President of the Latvian basketball team Rigas Zelli, Edgars Buls, said in an interview in November that Timma had told him he had no plans to ever return to Latvia.
The investigation into Timma’s death is still ongoing.
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