Bobbi Kristina Brown in hospice, boyfriend accused of abuse

[June 25, 2015]  (Reuters) - Bobbi Kristina Brown, the only child of late singer Whitney Houston, was moved to hospice care on Wednesday after suffering irreversible brain damage five months ago, and her former boyfriend was hit with a lawsuit alleging physical abuse and theft from her bank account.

Bobbi Kristina, 22, was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub in her suburban Atlanta home on Jan. 31. The incident had eerie similarities to the 2012 death of her mother.

Bobbi Kristina was placed in a medically induced coma and her family said she was later diagnosed with irreversible brain damage.

A statement issued by the Houston family on Wednesday said that despite great medical care "Bobbi Kristina Brown’s condition has continued to deteriorate. As of today, she has been moved into hospice care... She is in God's hands now."

Bobbi Kristina, who inherited her mother's fortune, was found in January by her then boyfriend, Nick Gordon, and a friend.

Gordon was accused in a $10 million lawsuit filed on Wednesday of causing her life-threatening injuries and stealing from her bank account while she was in a coma.

No one has been criminally charged in the case. Randall Kessler, Gordon's attorney, said he had no comment on the lawsuit which was filed in Georgia by Bobbi Kristina's court-appointed conservator.

In the first public account of what is alleged to have happened, the lawsuit claimed that on Jan. 31 Bobbi Kristina had a loud argument with Gordon. When it ended she was found "unresponsive and unconscious, face down in a bathtub, with her mouth swollen and another tooth knocked out."

It said that as a direct result of Gordon's conduct "Brown has suffered life-threatening bodily harm."

Gordon was partly raised by Whitney Houston as an informally adopted son. He later began dating Bobbi Kristina and after the singer's death, the pair referred to each other as husband and wife although they were never legally married.

The lawsuit alleged that Gordon began to beat up Bobbi Kristina and tried to take control of the substantial funds she had inherited from her mother.

"Even after Brown's hospitalization, and while she was in a coma, (Gordon) accessed Brown's bank account and stole in excess of $11,000," the lawsuit added.

Gordon was barred by the family in February from visiting Bobbi Kristina in the hospital.

Bobbi Kristina is the daughter of Whitney Houston and R&B singer Bobby Brown. They divorced when she was 14 after a tempestuous, drug-fueled marriage.

Her Grammy award-winning mother drowned in a Beverly Hills hotel bathtub in February 2012 at the age of 48. In that case, authorities said years of cocaine abuse and heart disease played a key role.

(Reporting by Suzannah Gonzales and Jill Serjeant; Editing by Cynthia Johnston, Eric Walsh and Bernard Orr)

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