Nick Gordon loses Bobbi Kristina Brown wrongful death lawsuit

Nick Gordon on Friday lost the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him by the estate of his former girlfriend, Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of singers Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford signed an order saying Gordon repeatedly failed to meet court deadlines in the case, so the conservator of Bobbi Kristina Brown’s estate won by default as the allegations were admitted by omission, the Associated Press said. The lawsuit, filed in 2015, sought $50 million in damages. A jury will decide the final amount owed to the estate.

Bobbi Kristina, nicknamed Krissi, was found unresponsive Jan. 31, 2015, in the bathtub of a townhome she shared with Gordon near Atlanta. She was rushed to a hospital but never regained consciousness and died July 26, 2015, while in hospice care. She was 22.

The New Jersey native was thrust into the spotlight when her mother was found dead in a hotel bathroom on Feb. 11, 2012, the night before the Grammy Awards. She was the sole heir to Houston’s estate.

A $10-million civil suit was filed by the conservator of Brown’s estate on her behalf the day after she was moved to hospice. The suit alleged that Gordon had physically abused Brown — including knocking out teeth and dragging her up stairs — had controlled her and had taken a significant amount of money from her without permission.

It alleged Gordon had maneuvered himself into a boyfriend role and then fraudulently represented himself as Brown’s husband to access the multimillion-dollar estate she’d inherited.

The suit was amended in August 2015 to include an allegation of wrongful death and to seek $50 million in damages. Gordon “gave Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water causing her to suffer brain damage,” the suit said.

No criminal charges have been filed against Gordon. An autopsy found drugs in Brown’s system but labeled her cause of death “undetermined.”

Gordon’s most recent attorney, W. Bryan Green, removed himself from the case in November. Attempts to contact Gordon or a representative on Friday were unsuccessful.

“I am pleased with the outcome of today’s court proceedings,” Bobby Brown said Friday in a statement through his attorney. In early May, Brown was added as a plaintiff in the case.

“All I ever wanted was answers relating to who and what caused my daughter’s death. Today’s judgment tells me it was Nick Gordon,” the singer said. “Now I need to process all the emotions I have and lean on God to get me and my family through this.”

Follow Christie D’Zurilla on Twitter @theCDZ.

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