Story highlights
NEW: Bobbi Kristina Brown has been placed in a medically induced coma, a source says
Daughter of singer Whitney Houston was found in a bathtub full of water, police say
Her mother died after being found in a tub at a California hotel in 2012
Whitney Houston’s daughter, Bobbi Kristina Brown, is on a ventilator and in intensive care, after she was found facedown and unresponsive in a bathtub full of water, a source close to the family said.
She “was not breathing” when Nick Gordon and a friend, who’s been identified as Maxwell Lomas, found her Saturday morning inside her townhouse in the Atlanta suburb.
Brown was taken to a local hospital, where “she is still alive and breathing. Other than that, I don’t know her condition,” Holland said Saturday.
Nobody knows what caused Brown’s unresponsiveness, Holland said, but police consider it a medical incident at this time. She said investigators had found nothing to indicate it was drug- or alcohol-related. The incident report referenced a drowning.
Police had been to the residence recently. Somebody reported a fight there January 23, but nobody answered the door and officers found no evidence of an altercation, Holland said.
The police spokeswoman noted one oddity in the case: “Her mother died in the very same manner.”
Three years ago, Houston was found dead in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton on February 11, hours before she was to attend a pre-Grammys bash.
An autopsy later revealed that she’d drowned facedown in “extremely hot water” about 12 inches deep. The Los Angeles County coroner ruled it an accidental drowning with the “effects of atherosclerotic heart disease and cocaine use” as contributing factors.
Brown is her only child.
“She encourages me and inspires me,” Houston once said of her daughter. “When I look at her eyes and I see myself, I go, ‘OK. I can do this. I can do this.’ “
Daughter of acclaimed singer, R&B standout
Brown was born in 1993 during Houston’s marriage to R&B singer Bobby Brown, which ended in divorce in 2007.
The daughter of music royalty became a public figure during the mid-2000s reality show “Being Bobby Brown,” in which she frequently appeared alongside her parents and often had a front-row seat to their marital fireworks.
Mother and daughter performed together on national TV in 2009, when the two sang “My Love Is Your Love” in Central Park on ABC’s “Good Morning America.”
Given the pair’s close relationship, it’s no surprise that Houston’s death was a major blow.
Days after her mother’s body was found, a grieving Bobbi Kristina – then 18 – was taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center because she was “overwhelmed,” family friend Kim Burrell said.
“She loves hard,” Burrell said then of Bobbi Kristina. “She’s going to be OK, and we’re going to see to it.”
Married a man who was taken in by Houston
Brown appeared on episodes of Lifetime’s brief reality show “The Houstons: On Our Own,” which followed her life after Houston’s death.
One of the show’s story lines revolved around Brown’s relationship with Nick Gordon, who had lived with Houston and her daughter since he was 12 years old.
Brown reportedly got engaged to Gordon, and in January 2014, she tweeted out a picture of wedding rings along with the words, #HappilyMarried• SO#Inlove.” However, Bobby Brown attorney Christopher Brown said Bobbi Kristina was never married to Gordon.
And in January 2014, she tweeted out a picture of wedding rings, presumably belonging to her and Gordon, along with the words, #HappilyMarried• SO#Inlove.”
“(Houston) made me promise several times to look after Krissy … and, Mom, I will never, ever, ever break that promise,” Gordon told the entertainment show “Extra” afterward, saying Houston “just treated me like she gave birth to me.”
The whereabouts of another man who was in the house when Brown was found, Maxwell Lomas, are also unclear. But in response to several media outlets reporting Lomas’ lengthy rap sheet, attorney Philip Holloway issued a statement Tuesday saying his client is a cooperative witness and Lomas’ most recent arrest in January has nothing to do with Brown’s hospitalization.
Concern for Brown came from many in the entertainment world.
Music director Michael Bearden sent along “healing energy to the daughter of a late great friend.” Songwriter Diane Warren tweeted, “I hope Bobbi Kristina gets the help she needs.”
“Poor thing,” Warren wrote. “Almost 3 yrs to the day her mom passed and the same thing almost happened to her.”
Remembering Whitney Houston
CNN’s Lisa Respers France and Nick Valencia contributed to this report.