The family at the center of a heartwarming viral Thanksgiving tradition is grieving after experiencing a loss from COVID-19.
The Arizona family gained attention on the internet several years ago after Wanda Denton sent a message that mistakenly went to Jamal Hinton, a high school student in Phoenix.
Hinton ended up spending the holiday with the Denton family and has celebrated with them ever since.
Sadly, family reported that Wanda's husband, Lonnie, died Sunday morning.
Hinton, who has posted many photos of their gatherings on his Twitter page, tweeted on April 1 that Lonnie Denton was hospitalized with COVID-19 and pneumonia. Hinton tweeted Wednesday that Lonnie Denton had died.
"Wanda told me all the love and support he was receiving put a huge smile on his face so I thank every single one of you guys for that!" Hinton said in one of his messages.
Hinton also wrote, "Arizona needs to handle this way better than it is! As we see Covid-19 is no joke. Let's do something @dougducey #StopTheSpread"
As some of you may have already found out tonight Lonnie did not make it... he passed away Sunday morning😔 but Wanda told me all the love and support he was receiving put a huge smile on his face so I thank every single one of you guys for that!🙏🏽❤️ https://t.co/tNvals0FMh
— Jamal Hinton (@kingjamal08) April 9, 2020
This story was originally published by KNXV in Phoenix.