Drugs, water immersion led to Bobbi Kristina Brown’s death, says medical examiner

Bobbi Kristina Brown's death has been linked to marijuana, alcohol, a cocaine-related substance, morphine as well as medications used for sedation or to treat anxiety. – Reuters pic, March 5, 2016.Bobbi Kristina Brown died as a result of brain damage caused by drug intoxication and immersion in water but it is unclear if her death was accidental or intentional, a medical examiner said on Friday.

The 22-year-old, the only child of pop legend Whitney Houston and singer Bobby Brown, died at a hospice on July 26, months after being found unconscious in a bathtub in her home in January, in an eerie repeat of her mother's death in 2012.

"The underlying cause of death is the condition which starts the downhill course of events leading to death and in this case is the immersion associated with drug intoxication," the Fulton County Medical Examiner's Office in Georgia said in a statement.

Drug use and immersion in water led to brain damage – or encephalopathy – and lobar pneumonia, which was ruled as the official cause of death.

"Death was clearly not due to natural causes, but the medical examiner has not been able to determine whether death was due to intentional or accidental causes, and has therefore classified the manner of death as undetermined," the statement said.

The examiner's office said an autopsy on its own had not been sufficient to determine the underlying cause of death due to the long span of time between when Brown was found and when she died. Therefore, it said it reviewed medical records, the results of toxicology tests and investigative records.

It said that marijuana, alcohol, a cocaine-related substance, morphine as well as medications used for sedation or to treat anxiety were involved in the death.

It could not be determined from toxicology tests whether the morphine resulted from heroin use, it added.

Brown's death drew parallels to that of her mother, who was found face down in a bathtub in a Los Angeles hotel on February 11, 2012, on the eve of the Grammy Awards.

Her parents separated in 2006 and divorced in 2007, with Houston awarded custody of their daughter, amid claims of abuse and drug use in the high-profile relationship. – AFP, March 5, 2016.