Two daughters of late blues legend B.B. King have accused two of the musician’s aids of poisoning their father.
Karen Williams and Patty King have alleged that their father’s family members were prevented from visiting King in his final days and that his business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, administered poisonous substances their father.
“I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances,” Patty King and Williams say in affidavits given to The Associated Press by their lawyer. “I believe my father was murdered,” they both say.
B.B. King died on 14th May in his Las Vegas home, aged 89. His health had been in decline for some time and the 89-year-old musician has lived with Type II diabetes for more than 20 years.
It is reported that no family members were present at the time of his death, but that Myron Johnson was by the blues legend’s bedside. According to the AP, Karen Williams and Patty King have been very outspoken about their father’s care in his final days.
An attorney for King’s estate says the allegations are ridiculous. “I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libelous allegations,” attorney Brent Bryson told the AP.
“They’ve been making allegations all along. What’s new?” added LaVerne Toney. Toney had worked for King for 39 years, has power-of-attorney over his affairs and is named in King’s will as executor of an estate that could reportedly be worth tens of millions of dollars.
Las Vegas police homicide detectives are believed to be investigating the claims. Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg told the AP that an autopsy was conducted on Sunday, and that it could take up to eight weeks to obtain the results.
The allegations come just days after a public viewing of King was held in Las Vegas, drawing more than a thousand fans and mourners.
UPDATE 26/05/15, 12.17pm: The Clark County, Nevada, coroner’s office has confirmed on Twitter that it had taken jurisdiction of BB King’s body and the results of the autopsy will be finalised after a minimum of six weeks. They added that the Las Vegas police department would investigate the possibility of homicide.
Reports are suggesting that King’s funeral in Memphis has been postponed.
Watch: B. B. King – The Thrill Is Gone (Live at Montreux 1993)
Our coroner takes jurisdctn over #BBKing body, performs autopsy. Results:6-8wks min. Homicide investgtn w/ @LVMPD pic.twitter.com/vrU6Irwd87
— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) May 25, 2015
