Now, her only child Bobbi Kristina Brown is in a medically induced coma after she was found unresponsive in her suburban Atlanta townhouse — also in a bathtub.
Houston’s death was ruled an accidental drowning. But many questions remain about what happened to Brown.
The family isn’t saying much. Neither are police. But on Tuesday night, authorities said they are treating Brown’s case as a criminal investigation.
Though little concrete information has surfaced, rampant rumors certainly have. The speculation prompted Brown’s family to admonish some media outlets, saying “the desire to be ‘first’ has clouded the judgment of many reporters.”
So here is what we know, and don’t know, about the case:
Brown’s condition
What we know:
She’s in a medically induced coma. Early last week, sources close to the family said she opened her eyes briefly and suffered seizures.
What we don’t know:
The extent of her injuries. We also don’t know what prompted doctors to induce her coma, or what those reported seizures and eye opening mean.
The boyfriend
What we know:
Nick Gordon was one of the two people who reportedly found Bobbi Kristina Brown unresponsive in the tub. Brown called the 25-year-old her husband, but her father’s attorney said the two were never married.
Gordon was taken in — but not formally adopted — by Houston when he was 12 years old.
A family friend says he’s not welcome in Brown’s hospital room.
What we don’t know:
Why Brown called Gordon her husband when she didn’t appear to be legally married.
In January 2014, she tweeted a picture of wedding rings, along with the words, “#HappilyMarried• SO#Inlove.”
“GoodAmbreakfast for MYHusband,” Brown also tweeted. “Surprise baby! Heh my man is the best :)(: so he deserves the best:) @nickdgordon.”
The couple’s friend Daphne Barak said she believes Gordon and Brown were very much in love.
“These two young people — he was everything for her, she was everything for him,” Barak told HLN’s Nancy Grace.
The injuries
What we know:
Brown was found facedown in her bathtub with unexplained injuries to her body, according to a source with knowledge of the investigation.
And police have questioned Gordon about bruises on Brown’s chest, Barak said.
“Immediately, from the beginning, they asked him about injuries to the chest,” Barak told Grace, adding that Brown is “very tiny.”
What we don’t know:
How Brown suffered those bruises. Barak said Gordon told her that the bruising stemmed from Gordon trying to perform CPR on Brown. Gordon couldn’t be reached for comment.
The investigation
What we know:
Last week, police called the case a medical incident. But Tuesday night, the police chief in Roswell, Georgia, said detectives have launched a criminal investigation.
“I can confirm that we have a criminal investigation ongoing,” Roswell police Chief Rusty Grant said in an email to CNN.
Police then issued a news release Wednesday saying “the incident has always been under criminal investigation and has not been reclassified as a criminal investigation.”
What we don’t know:
Who may, or may not, have played a role.
The investigation is focusing on everyone who was in the house the night before the incident and on people who had contact with Gordon, according to a source with knowledge of it.
Gordon was one of two people who found Brown in the bathtub. It’s also unclear what he was doing in the moments before.
Max Lomas, 24, was the other person there.
In response to several media outlets reporting Lomas’ lengthy rap sheet, attorney Philip Holloway issued a statement saying his client is a cooperative witness and that Lomas’ most recent arrest in January on drug- and weapon-related charges has nothing to do with Brown’s hospitalization.
So will anyone be held responsible for what happened to Brown? Police aren’t saying much beyond that “criminal investigations may or may not result in criminal charges being brought against individuals.”
The inheritance
What we know:
Houston, 48, had an estate worth an estimated $12 million to $20 million. According to her will, her daughter was the sole heir to it.
It was widely reported that when Brown turned 21 in March 2014, she received the first installment from her trust — one-tenth of her mother’s estate.
Brown is scheduled to receive one-sixth of the estate in 2018 and the remaining balance in 2023.
What we don’t know:
Who would be the beneficiary if Brown passes away.
