The name Roel Navarro pops up in a season 4 episode of Mayans M.C. and without any more information in the dedication, some fans may wonder who exactly Navarro is. Mayans M.C. season 1 premiered four years after the Sons of Anarchy series finale and held the baton for motorcycle-themed crime dramas for five seasons. A spinoff of the Charlie Hunnam-led FX series, Mayans M.C. takes place two and a half years after SOA and is set in the border town of Santo Padre, California, where the Hispanic motorcycle club rules the roads.
Mayans M.C. features some Sons of Anarchy characters but primarily introduces a new set of outlaws to the franchise. Roel Navarro began acting in 1995, first appearing in an episode of Unsolved Mysteries as an unnamed drug dealer. He then went on to appear in increasingly significant one-episode roles in shows like General Hospital, Training Day, Hawaii Five-0, Goliath, and Empire. Navarro had slightly longer stints on The Dead Girls Detective Agency as Barry and Bosch as Richard Romo. It wasn’t 2019 that he got his breakthrough role in Mayans M.C.
Roel Navarro played Pavia on Mayans M.C. in eight episodes of the series. Pavia is the Vice President of the Mayan Motorcycle Club’s Tuscon charter, first appearing in season 2, episode 1, “Xbalanque”, where the charter is called in to answer for why the drugs they’re supplying are being tampered with. He is a frequent presence in season 3 as the Tuscon and Santo Padre charters join forces against the other charters. In season 3, episode 7, “What Comes of Handlin’ Snakeskin”, Pavia is arrested during a brawl but makes it out of custody.
Pavia’s, and Navarro’s, last appearance is in the season 3 finale, “Chapter the Last, Nothing More to Write” and he’s present in the clubhouse when Molotov cocktails begin raining on the Tuscon and Santo Padre members. Throughout his time on Mayans M.C., Navarro’s portrayal is restrained, and he never overpowers the scene, as Pavia is a loyal member of the Tuscon branch and a powerful number two to the President, Ibarra (Mike Beltran). But the actor always makes it clear that Pavia is as dangerous as any of the other Tuscon members, even if he mostly stays silent.
During the credits of the Mayans M.C. premiere, season 4, episode 1, “Cleansing of the Temple”, a dedication card appears that reads, “In memory of our brother, Roel Navarro.” Sadly, Roel Navarro passed away before season 4 of the show; TV Line notes the date of his death as October 7, 2021. The show doesn’t specify how Pavia dies, but the character is written off the series, likely a victim of the Molotov cocktail attack at the end of season 3.
It’s also unclear how Navarro died, but he clearly left an impression considering how many people took to social media to eulogize him. On Instagram, TV actor Chris Boudreaux left a comment on Navarro’s final post saying how much he enjoyed working with the actor and how much he’ll miss him,
On another post of Navarro’s, Mayans M.C. stunt double Gabriel Rios wrote,
On that same Instagram post, Gabriel Rios commented on, Joseph Raymond Lucero, who plays Neron “Creeper” Vargas in Mayans M.C. left a series of praying hand emojis in commemoration of his screen partner.