Did the czar, nicholas the second step down before he died?

Yes. Czar Nicholas the second stepped down before he died.

On March 1917, Czar Nicholas II was force to abdicate his throne by the Petrogard insurgents. A provincial government overtook his rule.

Czar Nicholas II and his family were held at the Czarkoye Selo Palace after his abdication. They were then transferred to Yekaterinaburg palace near Tobolsk.

In 1918, the advances of the counterrevolutionary forces ignited fear among the Yekaterinaburg Soviet forces. They fear that Czar Nicholas II and family might be rescued by the counterrevolutionary forces. After a secret meeting, they decided to pass a death sentence on the imperial family. 

The Imperial family, headed by Czar Nicholas II, was gunned down on the night of 16th July 1918.