The partner of Bobbi Kristina Brown has been ordered by a US judge to pay $36m (\u00a329m) in a wrongful death case, her estate’s lawyers have said.<\/p>\n
The daughter of pop star Whitney Houston, Brown was found unresponsive in a bath in her Atlanta home in 2015.<\/p>\n
Her family accused her partner Nick Gordon of plying her with a “toxic mixture” before putting her face down in the water.<\/p>\n
Mr Gordon has not been criminally charged in connection with her death.<\/p>\n
But he was found liable in September following a default judgment in a civil case because he failed to appear in court.<\/p>\n
He did not appear at the civil hearing, nor did he appoint a lawyer, but his legal representatives have previously described the allegations as baseless.
\nBrown was in a coma for six months before dying in a hospice aged 22 in July 2015 as a result of immersion in water and drug intoxication, according to medical records.<\/p>\n
A post-mortem report was unable to determine whether death was due to intentional or accidental causes.
\nShe died in similar circumstances to her mother – one of the world’s best-selling music artists – who also died in a bathtub in 2012 with heart disease and cocaine use listed as contributing factors.<\/p>\n
Her estate had been seeking at least $40m from Gordon in its wrongful death lawsuit against him, which was filed in October 2015.<\/p>\n
Mr Gordon was accused of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and transferring money from Brown’s account into his own without authorisation.<\/p>\n
In a statement after Thursday’s court order one of the lawyers acting for her family said that “Bobbi suffered such horrific pain and degradation at the hands of Nick Gordon”.<\/p>\n
“[He was] the man she loved and trusted. No one should suffer the way she did and the judge sent a strong message in the award of punitive damages that this despicable behaviour is inexcusable and will not be tolerated,” Glenda Hatchett was quoted by Atlanta Alive as saying.<\/p>\n
Brown’s father, the R&B singer Bobby Brown, contended his daughter had a major career ahead of her in the entertainment industry before her untimely death.<\/p>\n
He said in a statement after Thursday’s ruling that he was pleased with the judgment and called on prosecutors to file criminal charges.<\/p>\n
“I do know Mr Gordon will be unable to slander my daughter’s name in the future or obtain any benefits from the use of Krissy’s name,” NBC News quoted him as saying.<\/p>\n
Brown was the only daughter of Houston and Bobby Brown.<\/p>\n
Houston took in Gordon at age 12. He lived with the family for years before he and Bobbi Kristina Brown began a romantic relationship.<\/p>\n
–<\/p>\n
Source: BBC<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The partner of Bobbi Kristina Brown has been ordered by a US judge to pay $36m (\u00a329m) in a wrongful death case, her estate’s lawyers have said. The daughter of pop star Whitney Houston, Brown was found unresponsive in a bath in her Atlanta home in 2015. Her family accused her partner Nick Gordon of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[137],"tags":[13721,623],"yoast_head":"\n