Thomas was born in Boston but grew up in New York City, where she attended the Montclair School of the Arts and the Broadway Dance Center. Her mother was Phynjuar Thomas, a stage performer, and her father was Dennis Thomas, a founding member of the band Kool & the Gang. Thomas appeared in a variety of television programs during the 1990s incuding "The Cosby Show", "Roseanne" and "The Young & the Restless" (for which she won a NAACP Award for outstanding African American actress in a daytime television program). Thomas died in New York City at the age of 29 from stomach cancer. Her boyfriend Malcolm-Jamal Warner was at her side.