IN BOBBI KRISTINA DEATH CASE
LOS ANGELES: A United States judge on Thursday ordered the boyfriend of Whitney Houston’s daughter to pay more than US$36 million
(RM158 million) in a wrongful death suit brought by the young woman’s estate.
Bobbi Kristina Brown, 22, the only child of pop legend Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, died in July last year after being found unconscious in a bathtub in her Atlanta home in January.
Brown’s boyfriend, Nick Gordon, and a guest were at the home when she was found unconscious.
The suit filed by Brown’s estate said he had lashed out at her in a fit of jealousy that evening after being “out all night on a cocaine and drinking binge”.
According to the suit filed in Atlanta, Gordon gave “Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious, and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage”.
Attorneys representing Brown’s estate announced the US$36.3 million decision for damages, awarded by Fulton County Superior Court judge T. Jackson Bedfort.
“There was an urgent need, in my mind, to get justice for Brown and that’s why I took the case,” attorney David Ware said.
“We intend to pursue, with all vigor, the full collection of the judgment. The defendant will not escape justice nor ever profit from his misdeeds.”
Brown’s death drew parallels to that of her mother, who was found face down in a bathtub in hotel here on Feb 11, 2012, on the eve of the Grammy Awards. AFP