Angela Simmons Reveals How She Healed After the Murder of Her Ex-Fiancé
Angela Simmons says the sudden death of her ex-fiancé is the hardest experience she’s ever gone through. In addition to the pain of losing a loved one, she also shares a son with her deceased ex. Simmons says therapy has been the key tool throughout her healing process.
Were Angela Simmons and Sutton Tennyson on good terms before his death?
Simmons shocked fans by announcing she was engaged and pregnant in 2016. She’d previously vowed to maintain her virginity until she married but says meeting and falling in love with Tennyson changed her plans.
Their son, Sutton Tennyson Jr., was born in September 2016. Just two months later, the couple split. Simmons opened up about the breakup in May 2018, during an episode of Growing Up Hip Hop.
“I just got to a place where I felt like I wasn’t happy, and I tried, and I tried, and I tried and I wanted it to work because the last thing I wanted to do was not be together with the person I had my child with,” she admitted in a confessional. “God had another plan for me.”
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Despite the split, Simmons focused on mothering and co-parenting with Tennyson. It appeared that the two had a great co-parenting relationship.
Tennyson was tragically killed in November 2018. Simmons moured his death on Instagram in a touching post.
Page Six later reported that before Tennyson’s death, he and Simmons were embattled in a child custody case. The report revealed that four days prior to Tennyson’s murder, he and Simmons appeared in a Manhattan courtroom to discuss child support and visitation.
Simmons reportedly received temporary full-time custody of Sutton Jr. in July after filing for an order of protection against Tennyson in December 2017, citing domestic violence claims against Tennyson. But things were looking up as Tennyson was preparing a bid for joint custody, while also enjoying nightly FaceTime calls with his son.
Angela Simmons says therapy has been instrumental in her healing since Sutton Tennyson’s death
During a recent appearance on Hollywood Unlocked, Simmons says she would not be where she is post Tennyson’s death if it were not for therapy.
“I remember like yesterday when everything happened, when he passed, I had to go right into therapy because I couldn’t process it,” she says. “It was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m raising his son without him, I miss [him]’ – it was just so much on the table for me when it came to that and then my son has his name and I didn’t know how I was going to process even that. It just was so much. But, gratefully and thankfully, therapy had been very, very helpful to me. I went like two, three times a week after it happened and it really helped me just get to the other side because I was not there. I think for the first time in my life I felt numb.”
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What Simmons says has been the hardest thing to grasp amid Tennyson’s death is raising their 4-year-old son in his absence.
“My son does ask for his father, he does ask why he doesn’t have a father and that’s tough,” she admits. “How do you tell a 4-year-old why his dad is not here? Other than he’s in heaven or he’s with God. These are things you tell a child who’s craving that father or that attention. I have never experienced something like that so close up and I did not ever think that I would have to raise a child alone…I’m strong but I have my days and my moments where I’m like ‘I miss him, I wish he could be here for his son and he would be so proud.’ My child’s father didn’t even get to see him speak.”
Simmons continues to honor Tennyson by teaching their son as much as she can for his level of understanding. She also posts tributes to Tennyson on her Instagram often.
