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Since she passed three years after her mother, fans have had questions over how Bobbi Kristina Brown died and what caused her death.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was the daughter and only child of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, who married in 1992 and divorced in 2007. She was born on March 4, 1993. Like her parents, Brown was also a singer. She was featured on Houston’s 1998 song, “My Love Is Your Love” and performed the song at a concert in Poland in 1998, on VH!’s Divas Live 1999 in 1999, and on Good Morning America in 2009. She was also featured on Houston’s 2003 cover of “Little Drummer Boy” from her Christmas album, One Wish: The Holiday Album. She also appeared on her father’s 2005 reality TV show, Being Bobby Brown.
Brown died on July 26, 2015, after months on life support. She was 22 years old. Brown’s death came three years after her mother, Whitney Houston, died on February 11, 2012. So how did Bobbi Kristina Brown die and what was her cause of death? Read on for what we know about how Bobbi Kristina Brown died and how her cause of death was similar to her mother’s.
How did Bobbi Kristina Brown die?
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How did Bobbi Kristina Brown die? Brown died on July 26, 2015, in Duluth, Georgia. She was 22 years old. She was surrounded by friends and family when she died. Brown’s death came almost six months after she was found face-down in a bathtub in the bathroom of her home in Roswell, Georgia, by her husband, Nick Gordon, and a friend on January 31, 2015. TMZ reported that Gordon and the friend called 911 and immediately started CPR on Brown until the police and paramedics arrived. Once emergency responders arrived, Brown was taken by ambulance to the hospital, where doctors stabilized her breathing and admitted her into the Intensive Care Unit. While in the ICU, Brown was placed into a medically induced coma and put her on a ventilator after doctors determined her brain function had “significantly diminished” due to swelling in her brain. “Bobbi Kristina is fighting for her life and is surrounded by immediate family,” the Brown family said in a statement at the time. “As her father already stated, we are asking you to honor our request for privacy during this difficult time. Thank you for your prayers, well wishes, and we greatly appreciate your continued support.”
Brown was moved to Emory University Hospital in February 2015, where she remained on a ventilator and in coma. Later that month, Brown was briefly removed from her coma but was quickly sedated back into a coma after she immediately suffered from violent seizures. On March 3, 2015, Brown celebrated her 22nd birthday while still in a coma. “She loves celebrating with a small group of friends,” a family member told Entertainment Tonight at the time. “So, in her honor, we will celebrate in a small setting with family.” Later that month, Brown was moved to a rehabilitation center in Atlanta, Georgia, where she remained in her coma. She was moved to hospice care and taken off all medications in June 2015 after organs started failing and doctors told her family that she could pass away at any moment, according to Entertainment Tonight. “Despite the great medical care at numerous facilities, Bobbi Kristina Brown’s condition has continued to deteriorate,” her aunt, Pat Houston, told the site in a statement at the time. “As of today, she has been moved into hospice care. We thank everyone for their support and prayers. She is in God’s hands now.”
Brown died on July 26, 2016, at Peachtree Christian hospice in Duluth, Georgia. She was 22 years old. “Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away July 26, 2015, surrounded by her family,” Brown’s family said in a statement at the time.. “She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months.”Her death came third three years after her mother, Whitney Houston, died on February 11, 2012. Houston’s body was found unconscious in a bathtub in the bathroom of her room at the Beverly Hilton in Los Angeles, California. “Obviously we all know her mom died this very same way,” Lisa Holland of the Roswell Police Department told People in February 2015 when Brown was found unconscious in the bathtub of her home. Brown was laid to rest next to Houston at Fairview Cemetery in Westfield, New Jersey, on August 3, 2015.
“Krissy was and is an angel. I am completely numb at this time,” Brown’s father, Bobby Brown, in a statement at the time of her death. “My family must find a way to live with her in spirit and honor her memory. Our loss is unimaginable.” He continued, “We thank everyone for the prayers for Krissy and our family as we mourn my baby girl.” A source told People at the time that Bobby contacted Brown’s family himself to inform them about her death. “He is holding it together more than you’d expect,” the insider said. “He knew it was coming. Of course he’s very emotional, but at the same time, he knows that Krissy is in a better place now.” The source continued, “He is taking comfort in the fact that she’s with her mother and that there will be no more sadness or pain. She is at peace. He knows that and is taking comfort in that.”
What was Bobbi Kristina Brown’s cause of death?
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What was Bobbi Kristina Brown’s cause of death? An autopsy report by the Fulton County Medical Examiner Office found that Brown died from a combination of drowning and drug intoxication. The toxicology report found marijuana, alcohol, “a cocaine-related substance,” sedative and anti-anxiety medications and morphine in Brown’s system. “The underlying cause of death is the condition which starts the downhill course of events leading to death and in this case is the immersion associated with drug intoxication,” the medical examiner office said in the statement at the time. “The pneumonia and encephalopathy are more immediate causes which resulted from the immersion and drug intoxication.”
The medical examiner office also was unable to determine if Brown’s death was intentional or accidental. “Death was clearly not due to natural causes, but the medical examiner was not able to determine whether death was due to intentional or accidental causes, and therefore classified the manner of death as undetermined,” the statement continued. The autopsy also found that Brown had “no significant injuries.” The medical examiner office also stated that the months between when Brown was found unconscious in January 2015 and when she died in July 2015 would “complicate reconstruction of the events surrounding her initial unresponsiveness. Interpretation of autopsy findings and other information will also be challenging. However, an autopsy could be helpful to address questions which may arise about the cause of her unresponsiveness and eventual death.”
Who inherited Bobbi Kristina Brown’s estate?
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Who inherited Bobbi Kristina Brown’s estate? After Whitney Houston’s death on February 11, 2012, Brown inherited her mother’s whole estate. According to USA Today, Houston drafted her will in 1993 after Brown’s birth and made changes to it in April 2000, ensuring that her daughter inherited her entire estate.
The publication reported that, because Brown was 19 years old at the time of Houston’s death, she received 10 percent—or $2 million—of her estate, while the rest was put into a trust fund until she turned 21 years old. According to Houston’s will, Brown would receive another sixth of the estate when she turned 25 years old and the rest when she turned 30 years old. She never turned 25 years old. Brown died on July 26, 2015. She was 22 years old. After Brown’s death, Houston’s estate went to her mother, Cissy Houston, and her two brothers. Though Cissy was named the executor of Houston’s will, she later renounced the role and requested that Houston’s sister-in-law and manager, Pat Houston, become the sole administrator of the estate.
Image: Harper Paperbacks.
For more about Whitney Houston, read her mother Cissy Houston’s biography, Remembering Whitney: My Story of Love, Loss, and the Night the Music Stopped. The New York Times bestseller—which includes a foreword by her collaborator and cousin Dionne Warwick—takes readers through Whitney’s “astonishing life, ground-breaking career and tragic death” told from the “only one who truly knows” her story: her mother. The book, which includes never-before-seen photographs of Whitney throughout her life, also sees Cissy open up for the first time about her daughter’s death, as well as Whitney’s darkest moments, from her turbulent marriage to Bobby Brown to her misunderstood struggles with drug abuse. “Cissy goes behind the tabloid headlines to show fans around the world the true, human side of a strong, successful—yet flawed—musical icon who died much too young,” the publisher’s description reads.
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