Whitney Houston's daughter in medically induced coma: friend

[February 04, 2015]  By David Beasley

ATLANTA (Reuters) - The daughter of the late pop star Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown was placed in a coma to stop brain swelling after she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her Georgia home on the weekend, family friend Kim Burrell told "Access Hollywood".

Bobbi Kristina Brown, 21, was transported to Emory University Hospital in Atlanta on Tuesday after three days at North Fulton Hospital in Roswell, CNN reported, citing unnamed sources close to the family.

North Fulton confirmed that Brown was no longer at their facility, but a spokeswoman for Emory declined to confirm that Brown was at their center.

Brown was discovered in the bathtub on Saturday by her partner, Nick Gordon, and a friend.

Brown and Gordon referred to each other as husband and wife and told both traditional and social media that they were married. But Brown's father, Bobby Brown, said in a statement on Tuesday that the two were never legally married.

"To correct earlier reports, Bobbi Kristina is not and has never been married to Nick Gordon," a statement issued by Bobby Brown's attorney, Christopher Brown, said.

"We are currently investigating the events that led to the hospitalization of Bobbi Kristina," the statement said, adding that the family requested privacy.

Burrell, a gospel singer who was close to Houston, told the entertainment television program on Monday that Brown's loved ones were hoping for the best after doctors put her in a medically induced coma.

"Her eyes did move a little bit," Burrell said in the interview. "We're hoping that it's just not a reflex. We’re hoping that it's a conscious choice."

Police and hospital officials have not commented on Brown's condition or said what happened to her in the bathtub.

The circumstances are reminiscent of Houston's death nearly three years ago. The megastar pop singer and actress drowned in a hotel bathtub in Beverly Hills, California, on Feb. 11, 2012. Authorities said cocaine use and heart disease contributed to the six-time Grammy Award winner's death at age 48.

Houston won accolades for hit songs including "I Will Always Love You" and "I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)."

She divorced Bobby Brown in 2007 after a stormy 15-year marriage during which both spouses struggled with substance abuse. Bobby Brown, also a Grammy Award winner, started his career as frontman for the R&B group New Edition.

(Additional reporting by Brendan O'Brien and Colleen Jenkins; Writing by Fiona Ortiz; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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