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Bobbi Kristina Brown died from the long-term effects of both near-drowning and drug intoxication. That’s the conclusion of the Fulton County, GA, medical examiner’s office according to Brown’s official autopsy report, a summary of which was released Friday. However, the report reveals more questions about Brown’s death than it provides answers.
The report — released, as circumstance would have it, on what would have been Brown’s 23rd birthday — states that while her cause of death on July 26, 2015 was pneumonia, the underlying cause was the delayed effects both of being found unresponsive with her face underwater in a bathtub in her Roswell, GA home the previous January 31, as well as “mixed drug intoxication” based on the drugs she had in her system at the time.
As for the former, the report reveals hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy — essentially, brain damage due to oxygen deprivation. Concerning the latter, the report lists the drugs in Brown’s system when she was found as marijuana, alcohol, a cocaine-related substance, anti-anxiety medication, and morphine, though the report states investigators couldn’t determine whether the morphine resulted from heroin use.
In summation, the report states: “Death was clearly not due to natural causes, but the medical examiner has not been able to determine whether death was due to intentional or accidental causes, and has therefore classified the manner of death as Undetermined.”
The report was released in response to a motion filed by an Atlanta TV station under the state’s Open Meetings and Open Records Act. The Fulton County, GA district attorney initially argued to keep Brown’s autopsy report sealed, citing their ongoing investigation into her death at age 22 last July, and to protect witnesses. However, the judge ruled the report had been sealed without a hearing or public notice, and ordered it released.
In a statement from his attorney, Brown’s father, Bobby Brown, said, “First and foremost, 23 years ago today, Bobbi Kristina was born. Krissy will always live in my heart and soul. I love my baby girl. For news affiliates to seek and obtain my daughter’s autopsy report, before anyone has been brought to justice for her death is mind blowing to me. Please pray for my family.” Brown’s attorney, Christopher Brown, declared in part, “Hopefully public indictments and prosecution will lead to private healing and closure for Bobby Brown and his family.”
Bobbi Kristina Brown was the daughter of Bobby Brown and the late singer Whitney Houston. Bobbi Kristina Brown died in hospice having never regained consciousness.
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