Terrible news has struck the Star Trek family today, as 27-year-old Anton Yelchin, best known to franchise fans as the second incarnation of Pavel Chekov, was killed early this morning in a fatal accident.

Per the Associated Press:

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Anton Yelchin, a charismatic and rising actor best known for playing Chekov in the new “Star Trek” films, has died at the age of 27. He was killed in a fatal traffic collision early Sunday morning, his publicist, Jennifer Allen confirmed.

Yelchin started small with roles in indie films and various television shows, before breaking out in films like the crime thriller “Alpha Dog” and the teenage comedy “Charlie Bartlett.” His biggest role to date has been in the rebooted “Star Trek” films — the third of which, “Star Trek Beyond” comes out in July.

Yelchin, an only child, was born in Russia. His parents were professional figure skaters who moved the family to the United States when Yelchin was a baby. Yelchin’s family requests privacy at this time.

TMZ also reports more detail on the unfortunate accident, that the young actor was found pinned between his car and a brick structure at his home.

Russian-born Yelchin, who was just 18 when he was cast in 2009’s Star Trek reboot, had been acting since a 2000 appearance in the television show E.R., was an only child.

Yelchin also had a passion for photography, as his personal Instagram feed can attest (NSFW).

This is of course a terrible loss for his friends and family, and our thoughts are with them.