Nick Gordon has lost a wrongful death lawsuit filed by the estate of Bobbi Kristina Brown.
A Georgia judge upheld the plaintiff’s case against Bobbi Kristina Brown’s boyfriend as he repeatedly failed to meet court deadlines.
The lawsuit alleged that Nick Gordon physically abused Whitney Houston’s daughter and took money from her estate without her permission.
Bobbi Kristina Brown died on July 26, 2015, at the age of 22, several months after being found unresponsive in a bath at her suburban Atlanta home.
David Ware, a lawyer for the Brown estate conservator, said outside court: “The court agrees with us, by striking Mr. Gordon’s answer that he is legally responsible for her death.”
No lawyer was listed for Nick Gordon in online court records.
Two attorneys who are defending Nick Gordon against any criminal allegations said they were not involved in the case.
Nick Gordon has missed court appearances twice, which meant Brown’s conservator won by default, according to Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford.
No criminal charges have been filed against Nick Gordon.
A jury trial will be set to determine how much Nick Gordon will be required to pay in damages, the judge’s order stated.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was the only daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.
She died at a hospice in July 2015, six months after she was found unresponsive in a bath.
Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death was a result of immersion in water and drug intoxication, according to medical records.
An autopsy showed Bobbi Kristina Brown had morphine, marijuana, alcohol and prescription drugs in her body at the time of her death, but the cause of death was “undetermined.”
The lawsuit, which was filed in 2015, sought $50 million in damages.
The conservator of Bobbi Kristina Brown’s estate first filed a $10 million lawsuit after Whitney Houston’s daughter was moved to a hospice, alleging that Nick Gordon fraudulently claimed to be Brown’s husband in order to access her multimillion-dollar inheritance.
The lawsuit was later amended to include an allegation of wrongful death, seeking additional damages.
Whitney Houston took in Nick Gordon at age 12, according to the reality TV series, The Houstons: On Our Own.
Nick Gordon lived with the family for years before he and Bobbi Kristina Brown began a romantic relationship.
Whitney Houston was found dead in a hotel bath in Los Angeles in 2012.
Bobbi Kristina Brown was the sole heir to Whitney Houston’s estate.
