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Gone, but never forgotten.
Late actress DuShon Monique Brown received a heartfelt tribute from her Chicago Fire castmates during Wednesday’s season 7 premiere. In March 2018, Brown passed away suddenly at the age of 49 from sepsis.
Instead of killing her character off the show, Chief Wallace Boden (Eamonn Walker) announced to the firehouse that Connie (Brown) had accepted a new position after graduating with a master’s degree in counseling.
As Chief Boden explained to his crew, “I am delighted to tell you that over the past four years, Connie has received her master’s degree in counseling. Just got hired at her dream job. head of counseling at Whitney Young Magnet School. They asked her to start immediately and I couldn’t stand in her way.”
Hermann (David Eigenberg) then said, “We didn’t even get to say goodbye. None of us did,” to which Boden emotionally responded, “I hear you. It’s OK, ‘cause she knows how much we love her here.”
In a sweet twist that reflects the star’s personal life, Brown also attended Whitney Young and earned her master’s degree in counseling from Governors State University in 2005.
Brown, who joined Chicago Fire during its inaugural season in 2012, last appeared in an episode that aired in April, a month after her death. Executive producer Dick Wolf told E! News in a statement at the time, “”The Chicago Fire family is devastated to lose one of its own. Our thoughts and prayers are with DuShon’s family and we will all miss her.”
Autopsy results revealed the actress died from a blood infection of unknown origin, with obesity and high blood pressure listed as contributing factors.
Chicago Fire airs Wednesdays at 9 p.m. EST.
(E! and NBC are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)