Bobbi Kristina Brown, Daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, Dead at 22

Bobbi Kristina Brown and Nick Gordon. Photo courtesy of Maria K./ Creative Commons

Bobbi Kristina Brown, the daughter of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown, died on July 26 at age 22 after she was found unresponsive in her bathtub and placed in a medically induced coma. Brown passed away in a hospice center outside Atlanta.

“Bobbi Kristina Brown passed away July, 26 2015, surrounded by her family,” the Houston family said in a statement. “She is finally at peace in the arms of God. We want to again thank everyone for their tremendous amount of love and support during these last few months.”

Bobbi Kristina was best known for appearing on the reality TV shows Being Bobby Brown in 2005 and The Houstons: On Our Own in 2012. She also performed a handful of musical duets with her mother, one of which ”“ a recording of “Little Drummer Boy” ”“ appeared on Houston’s 2003 LP, One Wish: The Holiday Album. In addition, she sang Houston’s 1999 single “My Love Is Your Love” multiple times in concert with her mother.

Bobbi Kristina was born on March 4th, 1993. Her mother memorably brought her as an infant onstage at the American Music Awards in 1994 when she won eight trophies. Her parents divorced when she was 14, with Houston winning custody. When Houston died in February 2012, Bobbi Kristina inherited her mother’s estate, which was to be given to her in increments, first at age 21, then 25 and finally, in total, at age 30. Months after Houston’s death, Bobbi Kristina announced her engagement to her childhood friend Nick Gordon, and the couple announced they were married on January 9th, 2014. (A lawyer for Bobby Brown has since said that Bobbi Kristina and Gordon did not marry.)

On January 31st of this year, Gordon and a friend reportedly found Bobbi Kristina face down in a filled bathtub in their home near Atlanta. Reuters reported that Gordon then administered CPR and other life-saving measures while waiting for the ambulance. Sources speculated at the time that she had lost brain function and was placed in a medically induced coma, making it difficult for her to recover after being oxygen-deprived for so long, but her family issued a statement saying that she was not brain-dead.

US Weekly reported that an initial police investigation produced no immediate evidence of drugs or foul play, though, according to CNN, authorities in Roswell are continuing to question Gordon and his friends to find out what happened. The town’s police chief told Reuters it was a criminal investigation. Police records later revealed that Bobbi Kristina had been part of an auto accident that injured two people, according to The Associated Press, days before she was found in the bathtub.

While his daughter was in the hospital, Bobby Brown issued a statement asking for privacy.

Bobbi Kristina was later moved to an Atlanta hospital known for its neurological department, according to USA Today. Around that time, her family released a statement saying that she was fighting for her life. TMZ reported at the time that doctors had asked Brown to make a decision about keeping her on life support.

On February 9th, the Brown family held a vigil in Bobbi Kristina’s honor in Riverdale, Georgia, according to Us Weekly.

Despite rumors claiming that Brown’s family was considering following through with that decision on the anniversary of her mother’s death (February 11th), a Houston family source told Us Weekly that that would not be the case. On February 19th, Los Angeles Times reported that doctors had performed a tracheotomy on Brown to help her breathe, though the paper relayed that a source close to the family said her condition had been the same at that point. She was moved to a rehab facility in March. In May, Bobby Brown and Pat Houston (Whitney’s sister) were named Bobbi Kristina’s guardians.

Bobbi Kristina’s family moved her into hospice care on June 24th, according to Us Weekly. “Despite the great medical care at numerous facilities, Bobbi Kristina Brown’s condition has continued to deteriorate,” Pat  said in a statement at the time. That same day, Bobbi Kristina’s conservator Bedelia Hargrove filed a lawsuit accusing Gordon of assaulting Bobbi hours before her body was discovered, according to Us.

In 2012, Bobbi Kristina told Oprah Winfrey how she felt the need to keep her mother’s legacy going, following Houston’s death. “I can hear her voice telling me, ‘Keep moving, baby. I got you,'” she said. “She’s always with me. I can always feel her with me. She used to always say, ‘Do you need me?’ And I said, ‘I always need you.'” She also said that she hoped to keep her mother’s legacy alive through singing, as well as acting and dancing.

In 1993, months after Bobbi Kristina’s birth, Houston told Rolling Stone just how much her daughter meant to her. “Having Bobbi Kristina…I could never do anything that could top that,” she said. “There’s been nothing more incredible in my life than having her. God knows, I have been in front of millions and millions of people, and that has been incredible, to feel that give-take thing. But, man, when I gave birth to her and when they put her in my arms, I thought: ‘This has got to be it. This is the ultimate.’ I haven’t experienced anything greater.”