Shemar Moore Honors Kristoff St. John at Daytime Emmys: 'We Will Never, Ever Forget You'

Kristoff St. John‘s peers helped preserve his legacy at the 2019 Daytime Emmy Awards on Sunday night.

The late Young and the Restless star received a standing ovation during the In Memoriam segment.

“It feels like a real accomplishment,” he said in a video message taped before his death. “I’ve been a part of something that will somehow be in a time capsule up there.”

His friend and former costar Shemar Moore also referenced him while presenting the award for best drama series, which Y&R won.

“This year, we had to say goodbye to a good man, a great man, a special individual, Mr. Kristoff St. John,” said Moore, 49, as the crowd rose to its feet, cheering. “In my opinion he is the most iconic, popular, thorough, professional, talented, big-hearted, generous African-American actor in soap opera history. … Kristoff, we miss you, rest in peace, keep dancing, and we will never, ever forget you, my brother.”

“[Kristoff would] want me to shut my mouth, get the party crackin’,” Moore joked before announcing the winner. The long-running CBS soap opera took home eight trophies total this year.

The two-time Emmy Award-winning actor was found dead Feb. 3 in his home. He was 52.

RELATED: Shemar Moore Reveals One of the Final Texts He Received from Kristoff St. John Before His Death

St. John is survived by his fiancée, Kseniya Mikhaleva, daughter Paris (with Mia), and daughter Lola (with ex-wife Allana Nadal).

In March, PEOPLE confirmed that St. John died because of heart disease, which was exacerbated by alcohol use. The Los Angeles County coroner’s office listed his cause of death of “hypertrophic heart disease … and effects of ethanol.” His death was officially ruled an accident.

He was laid to rest next to the grave of his son Julian St. John, who died by suicide in 2014.

Y&R wrapped up his storyline in April with a series of special tribute episodes.