Bobbi Kristina Brown’s boyfriend is responsible for her death last year, a Fulton County, Georgia, judge found on Friday, according to court papers obtained by TheWrap.
The ruling came after Gordon failed to appear in court for a wrongful death lawsuit brought against him by Brown’s court-appointed conservator, Bedelia Hargrove.
“The court finds Nicholas Gordon in contempt of its March 25, 2016 order,” the ruling issued Friday by Fulton Court Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford Jr. reads. “All of Nicholas Gordon’s pleadings are struck and judgment by default is hereby ordered against Nicholas Gordon.”
The multimillion-dollar suit filed last year claims that Gordon accused Brown — the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown — of being unfaithful and “gave Bobbi Kristina a toxic cocktail rendering her unconscious and then put her face down in a tub of cold water.”
Brown died July 26, 2015 at a hospice in Georgia, after clinging to life for six months. She was 22. In January of that year, she was found face-down and unresponsive in the bathtub of her Georgia home.
In addition to the wrongful death claim, the suit also alleges assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and transferring money without authorization.
On Friday, the judge, T. Jackson Bedford, deemed that, since Gordon had twice failed to show up at court, Hargrove’s accusations have been admitted through omission.
Gordon’s attorneys rebutted the judgment, stating, “The recent lawsuit against Nick is slanderous and meritless. Nick has been heartbroken and destroyed over the loss of his love and it’s shameful that such baseless allegations have been presented publicly. Nick has engaged civil counsel and intends to defend the lawsuit vigorously and expose it for what it is: a fictitious assault against the person who loved Krissy most.”
“In court today, we finally finished a long journey for justice for Bobbi Kristina Brown,” R. David Ware, Hargrove’s attorney, said Friday, according to Atlanta’s NBC affiliate 11 Alive. “The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death. The only thing left to prove is the value of her life. We intend to do that.”
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.