Carla Jeffery’s relatives are pushing back on unfounded online speculation linking drugs to her death, saying plainly that the actress known to Disney Channel viewers as Bree, the bubbly cheerleader of the “Zombies” movies, was not a drug user. Jeffery was 33 when she died September 1, 2026, at her California home.
A spokesperson for the family told TMZ that relatives intend to wait for autopsy results before saying anything more about the circumstances. The rumors moving through social media have not been reported by any news organization, and no official finding supports them. No outlet has identified who started them. The family also said foul play was not a factor and that there is no police investigation.
Eleven days on, nothing has been released. No cause or manner of death has been determined, no autopsy or toxicology result has been made public, and no memorial service has been announced. No outlet has identified which coroner’s office holds the case — the family has said only that she died in California — so there is no public docket to check. The last substantive reporting on her death appeared September 5.
Her Manager Broke the News on Instagram
The news reached the public through a post on Jeffery’s Instagram account written by Carla Alexander of Alexanders Talent Management, her manager of many years, on Wednesday, September 2 — the day after Jeffery died, and the point at which the first reports appeared. “It is with profound sadness that we share the passing of our beloved Carla Jeffery, who passed away on September 1, 2026, at just 33 years old,” the statement began. Jeffery joined the agency at 12 and stayed more than 20 years, Alexander said, growing from a child performer into an actress with a smile capable of lighting up any room. “Carla was more than a client; she was family,” Alexander wrote.
The agency gave no cause of death and asked that the privacy of those close to Jeffery be respected. Disney Entertainment Television said her talent, warmth and spirit had made a lasting impression on everyone she worked with.
Co-Stars and Her Twin Brother Pay Tribute
Her “Zombies” castmates began posting within hours. Chandler Kinney, who portrayed Willa, said the news felt unreal. “You made every day better and brighter with your infectious positivity,” Kinney wrote, adding that the warmth Jeffery gave Bree reflected who she was away from the camera.
Milo Manheim, who played Zed, posted photos and videos to his Instagram Story and called her the sweetest, kindest and most loving person. Trevor Tordjman, who portrayed Bucky Buchanan, called her one of a kind.
Actor Carlon Jeffery, her twin brother and a former star of Disney Channel’s “A.N.T. Farm,” reposted the agency’s statement alongside beach footage of his sister and a screengrab of a text he had once sent her. He told her in it that he was proud of her resilience and grace, urged her not to let anyone dim her light, and said he had her back in this life and the next.
From Larry David’s HBO Set to Seabrook High
Jeffery was born in Houston, Texas, on July 10, 1993. As a child she took acting lessons alongside her twin brother to get past her shyness, and by 12 she had signed with Alexanders. That was also the year of her first screen work, the 2006 comedy “Phat Girlz,” in which she was credited as Jazmin Age 10, the child version of the character Mo’Nique played as an adult. The following year brought a recurring role on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm,” where she played Keysha Black in 10 episodes across the sixth and seventh seasons between 2007 and 2009. Keysha belonged to the Blacks, a family left homeless by Hurricane Edna — the show’s stand-in for Katrina — who moved in with Larry David, alongside JB Smoove’s Leon and Vivica A. Fox’s Loretta.
Steady television work came next: “iCarly” in 2008, four episodes of NBC’s “Southland” as Janila in 2009, “Good Luck Charlie” in 2011, “Shake It Up” in 2012, then “Scream Queens,” “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend” and “American Vandal.”
The Role That Made Her a Star
The part that changed her career arrived in 2018 with the Disney Channel musical “Zombies.” She played Bree, a Seabrook High School student chasing a spot on the cheerleading team who befriends Addison, played by Meg Donnelly. Jeffery returned for the sequels in 2020 and 2022 and voiced the character again in the 2024 animated offshoot “Zombies: The Re-Animated Series,” and featured in cast music videos including “Flesh & Bone.”
The franchise stayed part of her life even when the work did not. She was not in “Zombies 4: Dawn of the Vampires,” but walked the carpet at its premiere at the El Capitan Theatre in Los Angeles on July 8, 2025, to support the cast. Her final credit was as Tiara in “Asanté,” a 2025 audio drama.
Away from her credits, Jeffery spoke publicly about living with epilepsy, which she was diagnosed with at 18. She had a seizure on the set of “Zombies” and woke in an ambulance, and in 2022 she talked to the Epilepsy Foundation about it and appeared in a Disney Channel spot for Disability Pride Month. “When I first got into acting, I was not comfortable talking about my epilepsy,” she said at the time. No connection between the condition and her death has been established.
A relative, Carl Jeffery, launched a fundraiser on September 2 for funeral and burial costs, writing that the loss had brought financial strain alongside the grief. It had raised close to $5,000 by that Friday. The page has since come down — the link every outlet published now returns an error, and it does not appear in the site’s own search. Nobody has explained why.
Nothing more will be shared until the autopsy is complete, her relatives say, and they have repeated their request that their privacy be respected in the meantime.
