Nick Gordon better start checking his couch cushions for change, because he was just ordered to pay a fortune in the wrongful death lawsuit filed against him.
Gordon, the boyfriend of Bobbi Kristina Brown, was ordered to pay more than $36 million Thursday after being found responsible for Brown’s death.
Attorney R. David Ware, who represented Brown’s estate in the suit, told TheWrap that Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford ordered Gordon to pay a total of $36,250,000 in damages.
The damages were broken down into $1.575 million for money taken from Brown’s account; $250,000 in punitive damages; $1.37 million for assault and battery; $13.8 million for pain and suffering as a result of assault; $4.2 million in punitive damages; and $15 million for present value of life.
“There was an urgent need, in my mind, to get justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown and that’s why I took the case,” Ware said. “We intend to pursue, with all vigor, the full collection of the judgment. The Defendant will not escape justice nor ever profit from his misdeeds. We hope that in some small way this will allow Krissy’s family to continue their quest for peace.”
Brown, the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, was found unconscious in the bathtub of her Georgia home on Jan. 31, 2014, and died on July 26, 2015 at age 22 after clinging to life for six months.
Gordon was sued last year by Brown’s court-appointed conservator, Bedelia Hargrove, last year. Hargrove accused Gordon of giving Brown a “toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water.”
In addition to the wrongful death claim, the suit also alleged assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and transferring money without authorization.
In September, Gordon was found responsible for Brown’s death by Bedford, after he failed to appear in court.
“The court finds Nicholas Gordon in contempt of its March 25, 2016 order,” Bedford found. “All of Nicholas Gordon’s pleadings are struck and judgment by default is hereby ordered against Nicholas Gordon.”