HOUSTON, Texas – In 2022, the Houston community first learned that our then-mayor had been battling a sickness we had no idea about.

On Nov. 2, 2022, during his State of the City Address, Turner disclosed that he had been battling osteosarcoma, which is a type of bone cancer that forms when something goes wrong in one of the cells responsible for making new bones.

“I go to the dentist to get a root canal (before being) on my way to France with the trade missions and doctors came and said, ‘Uh, (it’s) a little bit more than a root canal,” Turner explained.

The mayor said that the dental visit led to a biopsy and a nine-hour surgery on July 30 on his jaw where the cancer was discovered. He said doctors had to reconstruct the bones in his jaw by taking some from his legs.

Turner was in the hospital for eight days and went through radiation for sex weeks. When he made the announcement, he also added that he was cancer free.

Although he was going through this, and no one knew at the time, not even his daughter, Turner continued to push through with his duties as Mayor, never missing a beat.

Turner’s cause of death has yet to be determined, but officials said his body is currently in Washington, DC, which is standard protocol when a member of the United States Congress dies.