Sheinelle Jones isn’t just a familiar face on the Today show — she’s also a devoted mother navigating life after an unimaginable loss. In early 2025, she stepped away from the show to focus on her family following the death of her husband, Uche Ojeh. Now, as she returns to the spotlight and opens up about grief and healing, many are wondering about the children who have been at the center of her world during this difficult time.
“My kids lost their dad at 13 and 16,” Jones shared to PEOPLE, “but I try to tell them they got more in those years than some people get in a lifetime.”
Learn more about Sheinelle’s family below.
How Many Kids Does Sheinelle Jones Have?
Sheinelle Jones shares three children with her late husband, Uche Ojeh, whom she met at Northwestern University. They share children Kayin, Clara and Uche.
Unfortunately, Sheinelle’s husband, Uche, died in May 2025 from an aggressive form of brain cancer known as Glioblastoma. He was 45 years old.
Kayin Ojeh
Kayin is the oldest of her children. On his 14th birthday, Sheinelle captioned her social media post: “14 years in 14 seconds. The years are flying by! I love you Kayin. Happy Birthday!” This past holiday season, the beaming mama bear took her son to the White House’s holiday party, where he got to meet President Joe Biden. In April 2023, all three of her children visited the TODAY studio and appeared on-air, as their mother smiled in awe. Her son is passionate about broadcast journalism, just like his successful mom. In 2021, Kayin had the surreal experience of interviewing one of his favorite authors, Jeff Kinney, who wrote the notorious book, Diary of A Wimpy Kid. But it wasn’t just for an impressive school project. Instead, it was for NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt: Kids Edition, according to Yahoo! While Sheinelle was broadcasting for Today, the gushing TV host said his on-air interviewing was a “proud mama moment.”
Clara & Uche Jr.
The fraternal twins are very passionate about pickleball. Just like their older brother, they also had Instagram-worthy moments with celebrities that they look up to. In 2023, they both visited the U.S. Open and had the chance to play a pickleball match with tennis pros. Sheinelle posted a slideshow of her twins posing next to tennis legends such as Venus Williams. She jokingly captioned her post: “So normally when you watch the U.S. Open, you don’t hear a mom in the audience cheering for the ball kids…but this mom did for her twins. It was all in good fun for a kick-off event with a friendly match of pickleball between some of the world’s top tennis champions. Fun night of fellowship before these guys get down to the real business!”
The TV star enjoys celebrating her children’s milestones and took the twins to New Jersey’s DreamWorks Water Park for their birthday in 2023. The doting mother loves sharing her favorite moments on social media. She captioned another post: “I can’t remember the last time I was on a water slide! We had so much fun. An early 11th birthday celebration for the twins before their friends spread out over the summer! The parents had just as much fun as the kids. Cheers to the summer!”
