Andre died?

I tried posting a video of this event happening but a mod said since I'm new to this subreddit, I should try posting a text without media first so I try to explain what happened:

After finally reaching Andre (it's my first playthrough ever) I wasn't able to talk to him. So I tried fighting this creature downstairs and when I respawned at the bonfire because that thing killed me, I got a bunch of loot and when I went down the stairs to Andre, he was dead.
What could have happened here? I'm so confused :(