Vincent Margera, popularly known as "Don Vito" in reality TV series "Jackass" and MTV spin-off "Viva La Bam," died on early Sunday, Nov. 15. He was 59.
Margera had already been identified with kidney and liver diseases years before he died.
In an interview with CNN, April Margera, the sister-in-law of the deceased TV personality, shared that the star had "struggled with kidney and liver issues for a while, and he put up a good fight."
"He died this morning at 6:45 a.m. at Chester County Hospital in West Chester, Pennsylvania," April added.
Vincent's sister-in-law talked to him a week before his passing. She said the reality TV star was grateful to all his fans and wanted to let everybody know it was a good ride. "He enjoyed himself and wanted to thank all the fans," April said.
However, she admitted Vincent had endured so much while he was alive. "He went through a lot especially with the Denver stuff. He wanted everyone to know that he never did that," April explained.
In October 2007, Vincent Margera was convicted of "two counts of sexual assault on a child." The misconduct allegedly had taken place at the Colorado Mall Skate Park in 2006 during an autograph-signing event.
He was sentenced by a Jefferson County District judge of 10 years probation disallowing him to be present during autograph signing events, to appear on screen or write books. He had been prohibited to portray his famous character as "Don Vito" since then.
According to People, his character's popular name "Don Vito" was originally from the "Godfather" movie character to whom he referred his speech patterns.
On the day of Vincent's death, his "Jackass" co-star Johnny Knoxville tweeted, "You will be missed."
Vincent "Don Vito" Margera is the uncle of Bam Margera, the skateboarder who also starred in MTV's "Viva La Bam."
