Jaylon Ferguson’s fiancée is paying tribute to the father of her three children following his sudden death at age 26.
“I got our babies,” Doni Smith wrote in part on her Instagram story. “I’ll forever have you with me through them!!!!!”
“I won’t ever be able to love them the way Daddy did, I need you,” she added.
The late Baltimore Ravens outside linebacker and Smith, who owns a catering company in Maryland, share children Jyce, 4, Jrea, 3, and Demi, 1.
Smith posted a series of photos and videos, in which the athlete is seen doting on his family, and lamented how “lost” they will be without him. In one sweet clip, Ferguson is seen stretching with two of their children.
The couple met while studying at Louisiana Tech, where Ferguson played football and earned the nickname “Sack Daddy.” He was a third-round pick by the Ravens in 2019.
Ferguson died Tuesday night. In a statement on Twitter, his team described him as a “kind, respectful young man with a big smile and infectious personality.”
"He was an amazing father who was devoted to his kids and spent an enormous amount of time with them," Ferguson’s agent, Safarrah Lawson, told TODAY Parents.
The Ravens and Lawson did not specify a cause of death.
Police responded to a Baltimore home on June 21 around 11:25 p.m. “for a report of a questionable death,” and found Ferguson “unresponsive, being treated by medics,” the department said in a statement to NBC News.
According to authorities, Ferguson never regained consciousness and was pronounced dead. They found found no signs of trauma or foul play.