Homicide detectives are investigating the death of legendary bluesman B.B. King after two of his daughters claimed he was poisoned.
An autopsy was performed on King’s body over the weekend and Las Vegas police confirmed Monday that homicide detectives are probing “The Thrill is Gone” musician’s death.
King died on May 14 in Las Vegas at the age of 89.
His daughters, Karen Williams and Patty King, are accusing their father’s business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, of killing him, according to documents their lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer, provided to The Associated Press.
“I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances,” the daughters state in identically worded affidavits. “I believe my father was murdered.”
Toney brushed off the accusations, telling the AP, “They’ve been making allegations all along. What’s new?”
John Fudenberg, the coroner for Clark County, Nevada, said Monday that an autopsy was performed Sunday on King’s embalmed body, but results of the toxicological test wouldn’t be available for up to eight weeks.
Las Vegas police Lt. Ray Steiber said Monday that homicide detectives are investigating King’s death.
Fudenberg said King’s body was returned to a Las Vegas mortuary after the autopsy.
A memorial procession for King is planned for Wednesday in Memphis, Tenn., in which his casket is expected to be driven down famed Beale St., where King got his start in show business and garnered the nickname “Beale Street Blues Boy.”
King’s funeral is scheduled to be held on Saturday at the Bell Grove M.B. Church in his hometown of Indianola, Miss.
King’s daughters and Johnson all declined comment.
Brent Bryson, an attorney for King's estate, called the daughters’ allegations “unfounded” and “extremely disrespectful of B.B. King.”
“I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libelous allegations,” Bryson told the AP.
The family and King’s assistants had been feuding even before King died.
In November, Patty King filed a police report in Las Vegas against Johnson and Toney, who had power of attorney over King’s affairs.
Patty King accused the assistants of abusing her father and pilfering up to $30 million from him. She also charged they were withholding B.B. King’s medication and swiped two Rolex watches from him valued at $25,000.
In April, a Nevada judge rejected Karen Williams’ petition to take control of her father’s affairs from Toney.
The family also claimed that Toney refused to let them see King in hospice during his final days.
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/b-b-king-daughters-claim-father-poisoned-article-1.2235028
Posted By: Siebra Muhammad
Monday, May 25th 2015 at 6:44PM
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