This Article is From Jul 27, 2015

Bobbi Kristina Brown, Daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, Dies at 22

Bobbi Kristina Brown, Daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, Dies at 22

1998 file photo of Whitney Houston, her husband Bobby Brown and their daughter Bobbi Kristina

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of the pop stars Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, who set off a media frenzy after she was found unconscious in a bathtub on Jan. 31, died Sunday. She was 22.

Her death was confirmed by a statement from the Houston family provided by their representatives.

Brown, who grew up in the shadow of her parents' fame and tumultuous relationship and was the sole heir to her mother's estate, was found in her townhouse in a suburb of Atlanta on Jan. 31, and placed into a medically induced coma. The circumstances were reminiscent of those surrounding her mother's death; Houston was found submerged in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, on Feb. 11, 2012.

Houston was one of the foremost pop stars of the 1980s and '90s. Her career deteriorated as she and Bobby Brown struggled with drug and alcohol addiction, and their marriage ended in 2007. In a 2009 interview with Oprah Winfrey, Houston said that their passionate marriage degenerated into physical and psychological abuse from Bobby Brown.

Bobbi Brown appeared onstage with her mother in the late 1990s and on reality shows like Bravo's Being Bobby Brown (2005), about their dysfunctional family, and Lifetime's The Houstons: On Our Own, about their grief after Houston's death.

She was the sole heir to Houston's estate, widely reported to be about $20 million, which was put into a trust to be paid out in installments to Bobbi Brown. People magazine reported in March that Bobbi Brown's uncle and aunt, Gary and Pat Houston, were in charge of managing the trust.

Conflicting news reports and family statements about Bobbi Brown's condition swirled for months. She was placed into hospice care June 24.

"She is finally at peace in the arms of God," her family said in a statement confirming her death Sunday.

Bobbi Brown's conservator, Bedelia Hargrove, filed a lawsuit on her behalf on June 25 against Nicholas Gordon, variously described in news media accounts as her boyfriend, fiance or husband.

The suit charges that Gordon physically abused Brown and misrepresented himself as her husband to embezzle her funds. It also contends that the two had a loud argument before Gordon and a friend found her in the bathtub on Jan 31.

The lawsuit also claims that Gordon stole more than $11,000 from Brown's accounts while she was in a coma.

Randy Kessler, Gordon's lawyer, said in a text message Sunday night: "Sorry. I have no comment right now."

Bobbi Kristina Houston Brown was born on March 4, 1993, in Livingston, New Jersey, and attended Edison High School in Edison Township, New Jersey. Gordon was taken in by her family as a youth and grew up with her.

Survivors include her father; her grandmother, the singer Cissy Houston; and her uncle and aunt.
© 2015, The New York Times News Service
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