The bickering family of Bobbi Kristina Brown couldn’t lay down their differences even for a few hours Saturday as a funeral held for the only daughter of singer Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown descended into chaos.
The somber, invite-only service at the Saint James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, was disrupted by an outburst from Bobby Brown’s sister Leolah that reportedly got her booted from the church.
“It’s not over. It’s just begun,” said a fuming Leolah Brown as tensions between the Houstons and the Browns continued to boil.
But Saturday evening, a woman stepped out of Pat Houston’s home, where friends and family had gathered, to deny there was turmoil.
“There’s no bad blood between the Browns and the Houstons,”said the woman, who would only identify herself as “a Brown.”
The two clans have maintained a fierce public squabble since the aspiring singer-actress was found unconscious in her bathtub on Jan. 31 and remained in a coma for nearly six months. She passed away July 26.
The funeral only added fuel to the fire. Leolah accused Bobbi Kristina’s aunt Pat Houston of scheming to make money off the 22-year-old’s death — leading to her mid-service meltdown.
“It was wonderful until Pat started speaking and I didn’t like that. I walked out,” Leolah Brown said of the memorial Mass.
She said she yelled to Pat Houston while she was at the dais.
“I just told her that Whitney is going to haunt her from the grave,” she said. “She is being the phony person that she is.”
Security escorted her from the church and actor Tyler Perry helped calm the situation, TMZ reported.
Earlier, family members arrived at the church — just 8 miles from the townhouse where Brown was found — in a caravan of limousines escorted by a police motorcycle procession shortly before 11 a.m.
Brown’s body was carried into the massive church in a silver casket.
Mourners including Perry, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed and R&B singer Monica.
One notable absence at the service was Bobbi Kristina’s boyfriend Nick Gordon. He pleaded with the families to allow him to attend, but was nowhere to be seen Saturday.
**Please click on graphic. Unable to embed as full sized.
In late June, the court-appointed conservator for Bobbi Kristina filed a $10 million lawsuit against Gordon, alleging he assaulted her and took money from her estate without her permission.
Security was tight at the mournful event and police kept a crowd of well-wishers and neighbors gathered across the street.
A pair of women who said they were friends with Bobbi Kristina were turned away by the police.
“I was one of her best friends. I met the uncle, family,” said the woman, who would only give her name as L.O. “Half the people there don't even know her. We hung out. We got our nails done. We did girly things.”
Brown — whose 22nd birthday came and went while she was in a coma on March 4 — struggled with drugs and alcohol as she lived the very public life of a celebrity child with two famous parents.
The doomed woman was the sole heir to her 48-year-old pop superstar mother’s estate. But the bulk of the money is in a trust only available when she was to turn 30.
According to the will’s terms, family matriarch Cissy Houston and Whitney Houston’s two brothers will likely now inherit the estate.
Brown’s body is scheduled to be flown to New Jersey for interment Monday at the Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, where she will be laid to rest next to her Grammy-winning mom.
Keepin' it classy Brown family, keepin' it classy...The somber, invite-only service at the Saint James United Methodist Church in Alpharetta, Georgia, was disrupted by an outburst from Bobby Brown’s sister Leolah that reportedly got her booted from the church.
ATLANTA (AP) — The administrator of Bobbi Kristina Brown's estate has added a wrongful death count to the lawsuit against her partner.
The amended lawsuit filed Friday also accuses Nick Gordon of giving her a "toxic cocktail" and putting her face-down in water.
The 22-year-old daughter of Whitney Houston died in hospice care July 26, about six months after she was found face-down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her suburban Atlanta townhome Jan. 31.
Gordon hasn't been charged criminally. It was not immediately clear Friday who his lawyer is.
An initial autopsy found no obvious cause of death and the medical examiner's office said it would likely take several weeks to rule on a manner and cause of death.
The district attorney has said they will review the investigative file.
I guess what I'm trying to understand is why they're being so hostile to Nick Gordon? Wasn't he the one that broke into the bathroom and pulled her from the bath, surely if there was evidence that he was the one that hurt her, we'd know it by now. They weren't married, he can't take her money, so now they've added wrongful death to the lawsuit, so what's up with Nick or the family?
Her cause of death is listed as lobar pneumonia due to "Hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, delayed effects" and "Immersion of face in water complicating mixed drug intoxication."
The autopsy reported indicted multiple drugs were involved, including: marijuana, alcohol (ethanol), benzoylecgonine (a cocaine-related substance), benzodiazepines (medications used for sedation or to treat anxiety) and morphine. The report goes on to say it could not be determined from toxicology tests whether the morphine resulted from heroin use.
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — A Georgia judge Friday ruled that Bobbi Kristina Brown's ex-boyfriend is "legally responsible" for her death after the defendant failed to appear in court.
The conservator of Brown's estate filed a wrongful death civil lawsuit against Nick Gordon in August 2015. The suit accused Gordon of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and transferring money from Brown’s account into his own without authorization.
Brown, the daughter of Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, died in August 2015 — several months after being found unresponsive in a tub at her Roswell, Ga., townhome.
Gordon was scheduled to appear in Fulton County court Friday but was a no-show.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford said because Gordon has failed to appear twice, anything alleged by the plaintiff is admitted through omission.
A jury will determine the amount of damages to be awarded to Brown’s conservator. The lawsuit sought $50 million in damages.
“In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown,” said R. David Ware, lawyer for Brown’s conservator. “The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that. Bobbi Brown, the father, represented by Craig Terry, will put on evidence as well. But on behalf of the estate, we're going to demonstrate to the jury, the value of her life. Mr. Gordon will not put on any evidence in contradiction of that.”
No criminal charges have been filed against Gordon.
“It’s not a criminal case but it doesn’t have to be,” the lawyer said. “We want to legally establish he was responsible for her injuries that preceded her death and we’ve done that today. “
[....]
Earlier this year, Gordon talked about the death on the Dr. Phil show. After that interview aired, Bobby Brown joined the wrongful death lawsuit against Gordon.
The 22-year-old had been found unconscious, facedown in a bathtub in her home in January 2015, and remained in a coma for seven months. The world was transfixed by the tragic tale, as Brown's end mirrored her mother's haunting death in February 2012, when the singer drowned in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel.
Judge T. Jackson Bedford said because Gordon has failed to appear twice, anything alleged by the plaintiff is admitted through omission.
Nick Gordon doesn't have any $. He will declare bankruptcy and that will be the end of that. No one gets anything except self satisfaction and a judgment on Gordons credit report.Bobbi Brown needs that money. He keeps knocking up his newest woman.
Bobbi Kristina Brown's boyfriend Nick Gordon was ordered to pay $36 million to his deceased girlfriend's estate after being found liable for her death.
A judge on Thursday issued the ruling, agreeing with Bobby Brown that his daughter was a star in the making and had unlimited earning potential.
"She was an entertainer. If you were around her all could do was laugh. She told a lot of jokes," Bobby told the court. "She was always the [life] of the party... She was the life of anywhere she went. Anybody she was around definitely enjoyed her company."
He added, "I know she had the talent to be successful."
He went on to say that he believed that Nick was responsible for her death.
Nick was not present in court and hadn't been there through the course of the wrongful death trial.
The judge broke down the high dollar amount, awarding $15 million for her net worth and future potential income. He also awarded $13 million for "pain and suffering."
The estate originally sought $40 million from Nick.
[....]
Although no criminal charges were ever filed, Bobbi's estate filed the suit against Nick, alleging he gave her the toxic mix of drugs, which the medical examiner said played the key role in her drowning death on July 26, 2015.
As apart of the $36 million ruling, the judge also awarded $1.5 million and punitive damages of $250,000 for stealing funds after Bobbi's estate accused Nick of regularly transferring funds from her account to his account, including $11,000 after she'd fallen into the coma on Jan. 31, 2015.
A judge also awarded $1.3 million for physical abuse that Bobbi's estate he inflicted upon her, as well as a $4.2 million because he was allegedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.
Geez, $36 million bc the family 'believes' he gave her the drugs-- did he shove them down her throat??
She chose to take drugs & that choice ended up killing her-- how is that his fault?