- May 2 Afeni Shakur, mother of Tupac Shakur, Black Panther Party member, dies at 69
- May 2 Alan Elsdon, British jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player (Midnite Follies Orchestra), and bandleader, dies at 81
- May 3 Carl Fredrik Reutersward, Swedish artist (knotted-gun sculpture), dies at 81
- May 3 Thomas W. Libous, American politician (Senate-R-New York 1989-2015) brought down by scandal, dies of cancer at 63
- May 4 Robert "Bob" Bennett, American politician (U.S. Senator fromfrom Utah, 1993-2011), dies at 82
- May 4 Ursula Mamlok, German-American avant-garde composer, and teacher, dies at 93
- May 6 Niklaus Schilling, Swiss film director (Dormire, Atem, Rheingold), dies at 72
- May 6 Reg Grundy, Australian media and television mogul (Neighbours, Prisoner), dies at 92
- May 7 Chris Mitchell, Scottish footballer, commits suicide at 27
- May 7 Harold Kroto, English chemist, (Nobel Prize laureate 1996), dies at 76
- May 7 John Krish, British documentary filmmaker (Let My People Go), dies at 92
- May 8 John Bradshaw, American theologian, dies at 82
- May 8 William Schallert, American character actor (Patty Duke Show - "Martin"; Get Smart - "The Admiral"), dies at 93
- May 9 Dennis Nineham, British theologian (Synod and Doctrine Commission), dies at 94
- May 9 John Warr, English cricket fast-medium bowler (2 Tests, 1 wicket; Middlesex CCC, University of Cambridge CC) and executive (president MCC 1987-88), dies at 88
- May 10 Louis van Gasteren, Dutch actor and director (The House, De prijs van overleven), dies at 93
- May 11 David King, British graphic designer (album cover art for Jimi Hendrix and The Who), photographer (I Am King), and historian (The Commissar Vanishes), dies at 73
- May 11 Jim Pothecary, South African cricket medium pace bowler (3 Tests, 9 wickets; Western Province), dies at 82
- May 12 Delbert L. Latta, American politician (Rep-R-OH, 1959-89), dies at 96
- May 12 Julius La Rosa, American singer (fired by Arthur Godfrey on the air), dies at 86
- May 16 Julia Meade [Kunz], American actress and TV hostess (Spotlight Playhouse), dies at 90
- May 17 Guy Clark, American folk and country singer-songwriter (Heartbroke), dies of lymphoma at 74
- May 19 Angus "Alan" Young, British actor and voice actor (Mister Ed, Scrooge McDuck), dies of natural causes at 96
- May 19 Morley Safer, Canadian-American TV newscaster (60 Minutes), dies at 84
- May 21 Jim Ray Hart, American baseball player (Giants), dies at 74
- May 21 Marco Pannella, Italian politician and activist, dies at 86
- May 21 Nick Menza, American musician and drummer (Megadeth), dies at 51
- May 24 Burt Kwouk, English actor (Pink Panther movies), dies at 85
- May 25 Yang Jiang, Chinese writer (Six Chapters From My Life ‘Downunder’), dies at 104
- May 28 Harambe, Western lowland gorilla resident at Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden, shot and killed at 17, by a zoo worker to protect a 3-year-old boy who had climbed into its enclosure (Cincinnati, Ohio)
- May 30 Rick MacLeish, Canadian ice hockey center (Stanley Cup 1974, 75; Philadelphia Flyers; NHL All Star 1977, 78), dies of meningitis at 66
- May 31 Corry Brokken, Dutch pop singer (1957 Eurovision), dies at 83
Assassination
Car Crash
Hanging
Killed in Action
Plane Crash
Poisoning