The tragedy

A far greater misfortune looms over Vampire In Brooklyn, one that makes other difficulties seem frivolous. On the evening of November 3, 1994, Angela Bassett’s stuntwoman Sonja Davis was critically injured during what was supposed to be a routine fall from a rooftop. Davis languished in a coma for nearly two weeks following the accident, finally succumbing to her injuries on November 14.

ML: We were just horrified and saddened by Sonja’s death.

LAFAYE BAKER (STUNTS): I remember laying on the acupuncture table and getting the call [about Sonja’s death]. Oh my god. I came in to replace her and it was horrible. Just a horrible situation. Especially for me personally, because I had trained with Sonja. It was the worst experience of my life, to be honest, not just of my career.

MI: The first night of shooting was the end of that stunt. She fell eight feet onto the hood of a car that night and it was perfect. The next night was the first part of the stunt, where Sonja had to drop into the alley from the top of the building. The space between the buildings was twelve feet across and the airbag was twelve feet. This airbag was as big as a house, it filled the alley entirely. That’s why there was no ambulance on set. There was an ambulance the first night but not the second, because this airbag was so big. There was no way she could miss it unless she did the stunt wrong. Sonja had done all the moves, she was aware of the scene. Leading up to the fall she was hanging on the side of the building, or it was supposed to look like that. We had something underneath her. Before she fell, the stunt coordinator said, “Don’t push off, just relax and fall back naturally.” Well, she didn’t relax. She pushed so hard her head hit the opposing brick wall and when she fell only the tips of her toes touched the airbag. The rest of her body hit the pavement. She landed at my feet.

Wanda Sapp, the mother of Sonja Davis, and two of her other children were present on set and watching Davis during the accident. In February 12, 1995, Los Angeles Times report, Sapp told staff writer Lisa Respers, “The last words I heard my baby say was when she yelled down to the stunt coordinator, 'Are you sure?’ I could feel Sonja wasn’t comfortable with the stunt.”

Friend and fellow stuntwoman Denise Roberts said in a February 18, 1996 cover story for the Los Angeles Times Magazine that stunt performers are often branded as unreliable if they back out of a set up they aren’t sure about. Sonja Davis had previously been removed from a job on the film Strange Days after having difficulty with a particular car sequence. Her pride wounded, Roberts recalled Davis saying, “No one else will ever do that to me again.”

LB: The stunt community is very small, especially back then, and to be an African American in this business, just getting to the top as Sonja was…and she really was, at that time. She was so well-liked and had such a great personality. It was just so tragic. I thought about quitting stunts completely. I got through it with a lot of prayer.

The family of Sonja Davis filed a $10 million wrongful death lawsuit against Eddie Murphy Productions, Paramount Pictures, Wes Craven, and stunt coordinator Alan Oliney. Attorney Melvin Belli (best known for defending Jack Ruby during Ruby’s trial for the murder of Lee Harvey Oswald) represented the plaintiffs, telling reporters that proper stunt permits had not been filed beforehand and that the airbag had been incorrectly positioned.

MI: Not to be blunt, but it was [Sonja’s] fault. She pushed back. But she was a pro stuntwoman and her death was such a tragedy. And the lawsuit was totally understandable.

LB: I was so disappointed with how the Paramount Studios handled the death of another human being. The whole situation was a messy mess. I felt terrible for the family, especially since they were on the set and witnessed the fall which lead to the death of their family.

MI: Sadly, her brother was the only one filming the accident, on a video camera, and that night he sold it to “American Whatever,” one of those tabloid shows. You know, “Hollywood tragedy caught on tape.” I think that’s what did the family in, legally. I don’t know how the lawsuit turned out, but yeah, it was on TV almost immediately.

[STUNTperson WHO WISHED TO REMAIN ANONYMOUS]: I was hired to replace Sonja before LaFaye, and I didn’t want to take it to begin with because I was working on other things, and I didn’t want to replace a dead girl. I took it but left after a couple days. I didn’t want to sit around in a trailer all day waiting around, even though it was a nice trailer and the money was good. You know, she killed herself. She killed herself.

California’s Division of Occupational Safety & Health investigated the accident and issued four citations against Paramount, fining the studio $29,000. Paramount appealed the citations and denied any culpability. Melvin Belli died in July of 1996, in the midst of the Davis family’s legal proceedings against Vampire in Brooklyn. It is unclear if the case was settled out of court or was not pursued further upon Belli’s death.