Frazer Harrison/Getty Images Bobbi Kristina and Nick Gordon attended the premiere of Whitney Houston's film, 'Sparkle.'
Years after Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death eerily mirrored that of her pop icon mother, Whitney Houston, the man her family blames for her death died on January 1, 2020. Now, Nick Gordon’s brother Jack Walker Jr. is defending him in Lifetime’s new documentary, Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn’t We Almost Have It All.
Shortly before his death, Gordon had moved to Florida. According to TMZ, the man Brown referred to as her “husband,” though not legally married, was found “unresponsive and in cardiac arrest” and taken to a hospital. He died seven hours later.
Referring to his older brother as “Ace” and describing him as his “best friend,” Walker announced Gordon’s death in a series of Facebook posts. “GOD WHY I DID I HAVE TO LOSE MY BROTHER ON NEW YEARS,” he wrote, following it up with “All I can do is cry.”
Gordon moved in with Whitney Houston and her daughter, whom she shares with ex-husband Bobby Brown, when his mother was unable to care for him any longer according to ABC. He went on to have a relationship with the singers’ daughter and despite not facing criminal charges, was found liable for her death.
Following Gordon’s death, Walker spoke with Entertainment Tonight. “That’s my older brother. When people see me, they see Nick,” he told the outlet. “Everything that he’s taught me, I’m going to live through. I’m going to make sure I take it and I use it. And I’m going to make sure everything that he wanted me to do, I’m going to do it.”
Gordon Was Found Liable for Brown’s Death and Ordered to Pay the Family $36 Million
Much like her mother’s 2012 death, Brown was found facedown in a bathtub on January 31, 2015. She died in hospice care that July at the age of 22.
According to a statement from the medical examiner obtained by BBC, her death was deemed “undetermined” since they were unable to determine if she passed from “intentional or accidental causes.” They deemed the official cause of death as “immersion associated with drug intoxication,” citing marijuana, alcohol, sedation medication and anxiety medication in her system.
Bedelia Hargrove, Brown’s conservator, filed a wrongful death civil suit against Gordon for $10 million, “alleging that Gordon physically abused and stole thousands of dollars from her,” according to Entertainment Tonight. An amendment also alleged he provided Brown with a “toxic cocktail, rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage.”
At the time, Bobby Brown’s attorney Craig Terrett told Entertainment Tonight, “Gordon did not appear. The judge struck his answer and entered default judgment against him.”
The outlet reported Gordon was ordered to pay $36,251,918.50, including a $15 million valuation of her life.
However, Walker contended that her death took a toll on Gordon and that he “loved her” when speaking with Entertainment Tonight following his death.
“Everything. Everything that the media’s been throwing at him, everything that life’s been throwing at him, yeah, it took a toll on him,” he continues. “He lost somebody he really loved. It’s hard to be the same person when you lose somebody.”
He continued, telling the publication, “Everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, but Nick was a great person. Nick loved everybody and people fail to realize that. All they do is read tabloids and make a judgment out of somebody off of that and that’s not the case of my brother. I’ve known the man for all of 27 years, so I think I have a better judgment on the type of person he is than the majority of the people who are writing and saying [negative] stuff about him.”
Gordon’s Cause of Death Was an Overdose
Walker revealed to Entertainment Tonight that he spoke with his brother “six hours before he passed,” adding that “He was in a normal state of mind. Nick was fine, he was cool, like anybody else would be on New Year’s, honestly.”
He continued, “He called me on the phone and I was working. I was busy, so I told him I would call when I got off. It wasn’t really like he was messed up or anything like that. He was normal.”
Yet, according to the autopsy and toxicology report obtained by TMZ, he was “messed up.” The outlet reported he died of a heroin overdose, found with Narcan, a drug to counteract overdoses, in his system.
Further proof of the overdose was “black fluid foaming out of his mouth” as reported by TMZ, because, “given that black discharge is sometimes related to a foam cone that comes out of the mouth and nostrils after an opioid OD.”
“I tried my hardest to wake my brother up. Me, my father and [Nick’s girlfriend] Laura [Leal] were there with him,” Walker told Entertainment Tonight. “We were trying as hard as we possibly could to wake Nick up but, you know, it’s just how it is. God’s plan.”
Walker will be seen on Whitney Houston & Bobbi Kristina: Didn’t We Almost Have It All tonight on Lifetime at 8:00 p.m. Eastern.
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