A popular child star who rose to stardom in the hit 80s series Hill Street Blues died in May 2025, and sadly, his death went unnoticed by Hollywood. Zero Hubbard earned his first acting credit as Winston Lewis in the 1984 TV series Benson, and worked non-stop until 2003, when TV and film opportunities reportedly dried up. The late actor's family has now revealed via the MailOnline that the star died in hospital nine months ago after his son made the decision to take him off life support. His demise went unnoticed outside of the bubble of his close loved ones. 

There was no public obituary published and no information on Zero's tragic death aged 54, apart from a GoFundMe fundraiser which raised less than half of its donation goal. The actor, born Zerondrick Hubbard, was best known for his role as Betty Thomas's adopted son, Fabian DeWitt, on Hill Street Blues, appearing in 14 episodes from seasons three through seven. He also had guest roles on other TV shows, including LA Law, Tribes, Cagney and Lacey, Pacific Blue, Trapper John, MD, and Diff'rent Strokes.

According to the fundraiser, which was created in May 2025, Zero was rushed to the hospital with difficulty breathing, fever and chills.

He then suffered further health complications after being diagnosed with pneumonia and Rhinovirus, which were unfortunately unresponsive to antibiotics. The late star's health quickly declined after suffering from heart failure, with an ejection fraction of 5 to 10 per cent and respiratory failure requiring intubation.

At the time, the actor's loved ones added: "Zerondrick has now been placed on life support requiring medications to keep his blood pressure adequate and a ventilator to breathe just to stay alive.

"The doctors have informed us that there is absolutely no chance of recovery and have now taken Zerondrick off of life support, giving us only hours with him left," prompting them to create the page to help with "burial expenses".

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His sister, Barbara Hubbard, told the publication: "Doctors immediately put him on antibiotics, he was unresponsive.

"He quickly developed heart and respiratory failure requiring intubation, and when we were advised there was no chance of recovery, one of his sons made the heartbreaking decision to take him off life support."

She went on to share he died with the guilt of his mother's demise, who sadly died when he was just 16. Barbara explained: "Sadly, Zero went to his grave blaming himself for our late mother's brutal murder. Our mother raised nine kids in the Watts area of Los Angeles, and she often depended on welfare to care for us all.

"When Zero was 16, he had been working as an actor for a few years, and whenever his agent would send his checks, he would take them to the little corner liquor store to cash.

"He suggested Mum take her welfare checks there too, and because she would walk home from the store with cash, she always carried a gun. One day, there was an argument over the fact that Zero owed the store a couple hundred dollars for something, and they wanted Mum to pay."

Barbara recalled: "The argument ended with my mom drawing her gun and another man in the shop shooting her in the back with a shotgun."