Bill Cosby's daughter, Ensa Cosby, dead at 44

Ensa Cosby, 44, the daughter of Bill Cosby, has died, a family spokesman confirmed.

"The Cosby family thanks many people for their prayers for their beloved and beautiful Ensa, who recently died from renal disease," Cosby spokesman Andrew Wyatt told the Daily News and the Inquirer.

TMZ first reported the news about Ensa Cosby, who the spokesman said died in Massachusetts.

Cosby's retrial is scheduled to begin April 2 in Montgomery County, on sexual-assault allegations brought by former Temple University employee Andrea Constand. He is due in court for a pretrial hearing early next week. Ensa had been an outspoken supporter of her father, saying she believed he was innocent of the charges being made against him and that racism has played a big role in the scandal.

"My father has been publicly lynched in the media," Ensa said in a statement released in May 2017. "My family, my young daughter, my young niece and nephew have had to stand helplessly by and watch the double standards of pretending to protect the rights of some, but ignoring the rights of others and exposing innocent children to such appalling accusations about someone they love dearly and who has been so loving and kind to them is beyond cruel."

Last month, Bill Cosby, who grew up in Philadelphia and went to Temple University, made two public appearances in the city. In early January, he told reporters he and his team are "ready" for his coming retrial during a media-heavy dinner at Old City's Ristorante La Veranda. Following that appearance, Cosby performed at La Rose Jazz Club in Germantown.

Bill and Camille Cosby have three other surviving children – Erika, 52, Erin, 51 and Evin, 41. Cosby's only son, Ennis, was murdered at the age of 27 during a robbery attempt as he changed a flat tire in Los Angeles in 1997.