Mysteries & Scandals (2018–…): Season 1, Episode 2 - Deadly Legacy: Bobbi Kristina Brown - full transcript

- She was the daughter

- She was the daughter
of music royalty--

the only child
of Whitney Houston.

- Bobbi Kristina wanted to be

the biggest pop star
since her mother.

- But was Bobbi Kristina Brown

destined to follow her
mother's heartbreaking path?

- I said something very
terrible's gonna happen to her.

- There were
disturbing parallels--

volatile relationships,
substance abuse.

- There were numerous instances
of her being seen on her knees,



out of it, stoned.

- Then a stunning
double tragedy.

- I said, "Oh, God.

My worst nightmare
is here happening."

- Coincidence? Fate?

Or was Bobbi Kristina
the victim of a crime?

- There's no way in hell
we should let it go.

- I'm Soledad O'Brien.

This is
"Mysteries and Scandals" --

"Deadly Legacy:
Bobbi Kristina Brown."

The similarity is almost
too bizarre to be real.

In 2012, singer Whitney Houston
drowned in a bathtub.

Three years later, her only
child, Bobbi Kristina Brown,

was also found
facedown in a tub.



Like mother, like daughter.

How could it happen?

Was this tragedy preordained,

or was Bobbi Kristina's death
something more sinister?

The 911 call came
from an upscale town house

in suburban Atlanta, Georgia.

It was January 31, 2015.

Bobbi Kristina Brown,
the daughter of music legends

Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown,

was found alive
but unresponsive.

- I heard the news...

and I just froze, like...

- I found out about her

being found facedown in a tub
just like Auntie Whitney.

Immediately, in my mind,
I said...

"Oh, God. My worst nightmare
is here happening."

- The circumstances
were very suspicious.

- The local police launched
an investigation.

Was this a drug overdose,

or did someone deliberately
try to hurt Bobbi Kristina?

Family members were convinced
this wasn't an accident

and demanded answers.

- There was games being
played on Bobbi Kristina.

She had demons around her,
and she didn't even know it.

- The 22-year-old was placed
in a medically induced coma

and clung to life for six
months before she passed away.

- Bobbi girl.

She didn't deserve that.

- Whitney and Bobbi Kristina--

I don't understand how they
both ended up in the tub.

I just don't--
I don't understand.

It's unbelievable.
Like, what are the chances?

- So, if it wasn't a
coincidence, what did happen?

Or was Bobbi Kristina
doomed from the start?

- She's very cute.

- Bobbi Kristina Brown was born
into a musical dynasty.

Her mother,
pop icon Whitney Houston,

and her father,
R&B singer Bobby Brown.

Her grandmother
is Cissy Houston,

a famous gospel singer...

and her second cousin

is legendary performer
Dionne Warwick,

whose son is successful music
producer Damon Elliott.

- The entire family
has been on the stage

and in show business
since birth.

Bobbi Kristina always wanted
to do show business.

None of us were pressured
by the family at all.

- She didn't want to be
Mommy or Daddy.

She was Krissy.

Jolly, always bubbly.

- For most of her life,
Bobbi Kristina was raised

as an only child,
living in the shadow

of her famous parents,

whose success came
with personal troubles.

- Whitney had just attained
stardom as a movie star,

as well as a singing star.

And her daughter was born
amidst this phase.

But unfortunately,
it was also amidst the phase

of escalating drug use.

- Bobbi Kristina
was the light of their life.

But they had dual personalities,

both Bobby Brown
and Whitney Houston.

A lot of the time,
they were addicted to drugs.

- Bobby Brown had several
run-ins with police,

including a DUI conviction

and jail time
for a parole violation.

In 2003, he surrendered
to authorities

on misdemeanor battery charges
for allegedly striking Whitney.

He was released
on a $2,000 bond,

and Whitney
didn't press charges.

Bobby Brown eventually got
sober, but Whitney did not.

- I know I'm not anything
like the tabloids say I am.

I know that.

- Whitney, to your left!
- To your left!

- Waking up to cameras in
your face every morning--

that's the part of growing up
celebrity, you know?

It comes with a lot
of problems as well.

- In 2003, Bobby and Whitney
moved the family from

from New Jersey to Atlanta,

which was becoming
the new Motown.

But what was Bobbi Kristina
being exposed to?

And what toll
would it take on her?

- It wasn't
the proper environment

for any child to grow up around.

- While Bobby and Whitney
were living in Atlanta,

Cissy Houston showed up
with two police officers

with a warrant.

Whitney had to submit
to four weeks of rehab.

- After a turbulent marriage,

Whitney and Bobby
divorced in 2007.

Whitney was clearly struggling
when she got custody

of 14-year-old Bobbi Kristina.

Whitney's career was foundering.

Her income depleted, so she
downsized her lavish lifestyle

and moved with Bobbi Kristina
into a gated town house

in suburban Atlanta.

- Bobbi Kristina was never used

to seeing Bobby and Whitney
apart every day.

I think she did the best
she could to stay strong.

- Bobbi Kristina enrolled
in public middle school

and became a cheerleader.

The 14-year-old was well liked
and made friends.

One of them was an 18-year-old
high-school student,

Nick Gordon, who would play
a pivotal role

in the lives of Whitney
and Bobbi Kristina.

- The official spin was that
Whitney sort of adopted Nick,

that Whitney was friends
with Nick's mom.

But it's not true.

Bobbi Kristina met Nick
through a mutual friend

who dated Nick.

- Nick Gordon's mother
moved away to Florida.

Bobbi Kristina--
and she had a basement

that he could move into, and so
that's what he ended up doing.

- Whitney welcomed Nick
into her home,

and Nick was like a big brother,

watching out for Bobbi Kristina
while Whitney attempted

to get her career back on track
with a new tour.

- Nick Gordon did fill a void
that they had in the household

for both Bobbi Kristina
and Whitney.

- He was just there basically

to keep Bobbi Kristina company
and to hang out with her.

And Whitney believed
that he was a good influence,

that Nick could keep
Bobbi Kristina out of trouble.

- But according to Nick,

Bobbi Kristina started
dabbling in drugs.

Was Bobbi Kristina already
heading down the same road

as her mother?

After a lackluster tour
and another stint in rehab,

Whitney planned
a triumphant comeback

at the 2012 Grammy Awards
in Los Angeles.

Bobbi Kristina went along

to celebrate her mother's
return to the spotlight,

but instead witnessed
her relapse.

- There were numerous instances
of her being seen at the bar

completely hammered,

her being seen in the lobby

just on her knees,

out of it, stoned.

- Bobbi Kristina
was with Whitney

when she interrupted
a pre-Grammy interview

with singers Brandy and Monica

and Houston's music mentor,
Clive Davis.

- Whitney bursts in in the
middle of the interview

obviously high on something,

her hair half wet.

The look on the three people's
face on camera

is one of disbelief.

Bobbi Kristina was with her
all the time

and saw this erratic behavior.

- According to
Bobby Brown's autobiography,

that evening, Bobbi Kristina
had an experience

that was almost too surreal
to be believed.

- Bobbi Kristina told us

that she was standing
at the tub,

and Bobbi Kristina wasn't high.

She hadn't had a drink.

And Bobbi Kristina
was running the bathtub

She said, and all of a sudden,

I guess she blacked out.

- Bobbi Kristina
told me that she woke up...

and she was throwing up water
out of her lungs.

And when she looked up

that there were a lot
of security in her room,

and she was scared because
she didn't know what happened.

- You know, we asked her, "Well,
what happened after you got

out the bathtub?
What did you do?"

She said, "For the first time
in my life,

"Mommy and I slept together.

And Mommy held me all night."

- The mystery surrounding what
happened to Bobbi Kristina

that night in the bathtub
may never fully be explained.

Less than 24 hours later,
her mother, Whitney Houston,

was discovered facedown
in her hotel bathtub.

Paramedics arrived
and attempted resuscitation.

But Whitney Houston was
pronounced dead at the scene.

- By the time I got there,
it was chaos.

I remember
Bobbi Kristina sitting there,

and I saw it in her face.

It was like,
"My mommy's gone."

I was trying to just hold her.

I didn't know
what she was gonna do.

- Bobbi Kristina was
in the hotel hallway crying...

hysterically,
and she had fallen to the floor.

- When I got
to the Beverly Hilton

and wanted to interview Bobbi,
I was advised that Bobbi

was down the hall, was part
of Whitney's entourage,

and that she had been drinking.

And she passed out,
and they called paramedics

and transported her
to the hospital.

So I never had a chance
to interview her.

- I knew once Whitney was gone,

I knew that Bobbi Kristina
was going to be next.

- Was there anyone
who could save Bobbi Kristina?

What about her surrogate
brother, Nick Gordon?

Or was Bobbi Kristina's fate
already sealed?

- Almost anytime
a high-profile celebrity dies,

suddenly there are conspiracy
theories about foul play.

That's what happened
when Whitney Houston

was found dead
in her hotel bathtub.

But those allegations
were shot down

when the coroner concluded
Whitney died from drowning

due to heart disease
and cocaine use.

The autopsy also found

prescription medication
in her system.

With Whitney gone,

what would happen
to Bobbi Kristina?

Was it her legacy to repeat
the mistakes of her mother?

- And Bobbi Kristina clearly
just idolized her mother

and was just beyond devastated
when she passed away.

- Whitney's funeral
was a tipping point

for Bobbi Kristina.

- That was a very tough day.

- Whitney's death--

I don't think Bobbi Kristina
ever healed from that.

- One friend had recounted
that she would sit in her room

and play the same
Whitney Houston song

over and over and over again,

and that was just kind of her
way of dealing with the death.

She really struggled with it.

- Bobbi Kristina was the sole
heir to her mother's estate,

estimated at more than
$20 million after her passing.

- In death, all of her
albums jumped back

on the record charts
into the top 10 or top 20.

So Whitney Houston
is one of those stars

who became much wealthier
in death,

and this really made
this huge chunk of money

for Bobbi Kristina.

- Within months
of Whitney's drowning,

Bobbi Kristina joined other
family members to shoot

a new reality TV series,
"The Houstons: On Our Own."

Also appearing in the show

was her unofficial 23-year-old
brother, Nick Gordon,

who had lived with Whitney
and Bobbi Kristina

since he was about 18 years old.

- The death of her mother
made her very vulnerable...

very vulnerable, and I think
that's when Nick came in.

- Nick was, I think,
her fallback,

and she relied on him
quite a bit.

- Family members
began to wonder,

was Nick becoming more than
just a so-called big brother

to Bobbi Kristina?

- On came this sort of
flashy guy, Nick Gordon,

who just convinced her she'd
be a star like her mother

and boost her ego beyond
anyone's expectations, and...

and Bobbi Kristina
went for the ride.

- After Whitney's death,

it seems like almost overnight,

Nick just popped up
and became her boyfriend.

- He's definitely been
my rock for years and years,

you know, before all of this.

Before all the glitz, glam,

you know, all of this,
he was there.

- We move as one
in how we do things together

and support each other
as a family.

- At the premiere
of the reality series,

Bobbi Kristina and Nick
were caught off guard

when a reporter asked

if she was wearing
an engagement ring--

a secret they were saving
to reveal during the show.

- Final question--do you think
Whitney would be happy

that you guys are maybe engaged?

- She would
be very happy, actually.

That's actually what she wanted.

- I don't think that
there was anybody

in the Brown family
or the Houston family

that approved
Nick and Bobbi Kristina's...

joining together, no.

I said,
"Look, Krissy, be careful,

"because something is not right.

Something's not right."

- It was a surprise--
like, "They're together?"

He was like a brother to her.

I would always speak to B.K.,

and then Nick would be
in the background.

I'd say, "Hey, man." He'd say,
"Hey, hey, cuz, how are you?"

- The reality series focused
on Bobbi Kristina

and other family members coping
with the loss of Whitney.

Viewers observed Bobbi Kristina

clearly struggling,
even drinking on camera.

- There are a couple of times
when literally

Pat Houston takes a wine bottle
out of her hand.

She says, you know,
"You're not old enough to drink

and, no, you're not gonna be
having wine at my house."

- And behind the scenes,
Bobbi Kristina's life

appeared to be taking
a dramatic turn.

- After Whitney died,

some of Bobbi Kristina's inner
circle were undesirables.

- According to police reports,
back in Atlanta,

a 911 dispatcher received a call

from Bobbi Kristina's
downstairs neighbor

at an apartment complex where
she was living temporarily.

No incident report
was written by police.

However, several months later,
another 911 call

about another disturbance
at Bobbi Kristina's apartment.

Police showed up once again.

They said no incident report
was written.

But clearly, law enforcement

was becoming
a familiar presence.

Was Bobbi Kristina
locked into the same pattern

she witnessed with her parents?

After several noise complaints,

Bobbi Kristina returned
to her mother's town house.

And according to police
reports, months later,

t another 911 call,

this time from Nick Gordon,
claiming Bobbi Kristina fell

and became unresponsive.

She appeared disoriented
and was taken to the hospital.

Police took no further action.

- Police were called
to the house.

Nick labeled it "a seizure,"
which she had no history of.

- In January 2014,
more than a year

after their surprise engagement

and a series
of unsettling events,

Bobbi Kristina and Nick
dropped another bombshell.

They were married.

Months later, in March 2014,

Bobbi Kristina received the
first $2 million installment

of her $20 million inheritance.

- Now that Bobbi Kristina
had inherited

the first part
of Whitney Houston's estate,

she was the breadwinner
in this group.

- According
to "People" magazine,

tensions between
Nick and the Houston family

reached a boiling point
when Nick

wanted Bobbi Kristina's
allowance increased.

Pat Houston, who was legal
guardian and executor

of Whitney's estate, refused
to relinquish the money.

- Pat Houston felt
Nick threatened her,

that he made her feel unsafe.

- In April 2014, Pat Houston
filed a protective order

against Nick Gordon after
he posted tweets of himself

posing with guns.

According to court documents,

Pat Houston claimed that
she feared for her safety.

But was Nick just being
overly protective,

or was something
more ominous going on?

- I said something very
terrible's gonna happen to her.

- After the sudden death
of her mother, Whitney Houston,

Bobbi Kristina Brown found
comfort with Nick Gordon,

her unofficial big brother
and now reported husband.

But family and friends
voiced their concerns

about Nick's intentions.

Was he in it for love
or Bobbi Kristina's money?

- Nick Gordon had money
on his mind.

- According to court documents,

Nick allegedly manipulated
Bobbi Kristina's bank account

so he could access her money.

- Nick Gordon
had been taking money

out of Bobbi Kristina's
bank accounts,

moving it into his own account

over a period
of a year and a half or so.

- The court documents
went on to say that Nick

installed security cameras
inside their town house.

But were the cameras
supposed to catch intruders

or keep an eye
on Bobbi Kristina?

- Nick Gordon...

he controlled all of her
interactions with her friends.

He basically alienated her
from all of her friends,

including her father.

LaPrincia Brown,
who is her half-sister,

was very close with her,

and from the point of Whitney's
funeral until her death,

I don't think she had
any interaction with her.

- Nick denied these accusations.

He insisted
he loved Bobbi Kristina.

And the feeling seemed mutual.

- Knowing Bobbi Kristina
as well as I did,

I know she really loved him.

And I know that she felt
a connection to him

when her mommy passed
because they were...

they were very close
for many years.

- But as time went on,
some family members

claimed their only contact
with Bobbi Kristina

was through social media,

where she posted
alarming pictures of herself.

- At this point, Bobbi Kristina
looked emaciated.

- Was Bobbi Kristina
already beyond help?

- I know that whatever she was
battling, she was overcoming.

Fact.

Bobbi Kristina wanted to be

the biggest pop star
since her mother.

She wanted to carry the legacy.

I was grooming her
to be the next one.

I would go down to Atlanta
and record her.

We were gonna work on her album.

You know,
we were gonna do the single.

She was starting to work out,
and she's so proud of that.

- Bobbi Kristina
was very passionate

about doing her music,

and maybe passionate
about her acting, too.

She just didn't have a chance,
because she didn't have

all her loved ones around her--

those that really
and truly loved her.

- By New Year's 2015,

Bobbi Kristina
seemed to be surrounded

by Nick's circle of friends,

including Max Lomas and his
girlfriend Danyela Bradley,

who moved into
the town house with them.

- It was Danyela
and her boyfriend Max

staying at their house

and all kinds of people
coming through the house.

So it really became
a free-for-all.

- During the last week
of January, Bobbi Kristina

became entangled in
a tumultuous series of events.

A security guard called 911
about another dispute

at her town house.

- When police showed up,
no one was home, so they left.

And no charges were filed
in connection with the call.

- Bobbi Kristina
and Nick Gordon--

they were always arguing.

Things would escalate.

- On January 25th,
two days after the 911 call,

Bobbi Kristina was involved
in a car accident,

seriously injuring the driver
of the other vehicle.

Bobbi Kristina's
roommate Danyela,

who was in the passenger's
seat, sustained injuries.

Bobbi Kristina was unharmed
and passed a sobriety test.

- Bobbi Kristina--
she had her wits about her.

She didn't seem
to be impaired in any way.

- They got into
a terrible car accident,

and that sort of started
this erratic week.

- According to court documents,
two days after the accident,

Danyela Bradley allegedly
witnessed an altercation

inside the town house.

- According to Danyela,

Nick was upset
with Bobbi Kristina,

and so he punched her
in the face

and knocked a tooth loose

and knocked her onto the couch,
and she fell off the couch.

I think the couch was broken
in the incident.

And she was on the floor,

curled up in the fetal position,

and he was kicking her.

Nick Gordon said to Danyela
that, "I don't do this often,"

which indicated to her
that, you know,

this had happened before.

According to Danyela,
at some point,

he told her to go up
to the master bedroom.

She could not get up on her own
power because of the injuries.

So he grabbed her by the hair
and dragged her upstairs,

and threw her
in the master bedroom.

I understand there was
blood on the walls

leading up to the master bedroom

from Bobbi Kristina.

- In response to the claim,
Nick Gordon vehemently denied

that he ever abused
Bobbi Kristina.

- I never saw them
even fight and argue.

They seemed so happy.

I had no idea
that there was any problems.

- Later that evening,
after the alleged altercation,

Bobbi Kristina
posted cryptic tweets.

And...

- I smelt it. I felt it.

I said something very
terrible's gonna happen to her.

- Bobbi Kristina!

- What was the meaning
behind Bobbi Kristina's tweets?

And did those messages trigger
a devastating chain of events?

Coming up, a videotape
deposition from a close friend

that's never been aired
paints a disturbing picture.

- On January 29, 2015,
after an alleged fight

with Nick Gordon,
Bobbi Kristina Brown tweeted,

"On my own," and,
"Let's start this career up."

According to court documents,
the next day,

Bobbi Kristina reached out
to an old friend

to discuss
her relationship with Nick,

saying he was not the man
she thought he was.

Was Bobbi Kristina
ready to move on?

- Thank you.

- She wanted to get out
of this life that she was in.

Bobby Brown and Bobbi Kristina
had talked.

They had scheduled a trip

for Bobbi Kristina
to come out to L.A.

She had some singing things

that she wanted to do that Bobby
was going to help her with.

As far as I know,
there was a plan.

- She called me,
and she had called her dad,

and they had kind of made
arrangements for her to come

so we can work on her music.

- Bobbi Kristina's plan
to move to Los Angeles

would never happen.

On the morning of January 31st,

when a technician responded
to a routine call,

roommate Max Lomas
found Bobbi Kristina

in the bathtub facedown.

- Right now we're treating
this investigation

as a medical call.

It is bizarre that
the same type of incident

would happen involving
a mother and a daughter.

- According to court documents,
tests revealed

Bobbi Kristina had a cocktail
of drugs in her system.

She was breathing,
but her prognosis was grave.

Doctors placed Bobbi Kristina
in a medically induced coma

to stop swelling and minimize
any potential brain damage

from the near-drowning.

- I sent her a text,

'cause I didn't believe it.

And then I texted Nick, and...

and no response.

- From the point
that Bobbi Kristina

was found unconscious
and brought to the hospital,

Bobby Brown definitely
had concerns

that Nick may have been
responsible for what happened.

- According to a statement
from Nick's lawyers,

Nick claimed
he repeatedly offered to meet

with Bobby Brown,
but Bobby's lawyers said

Nick would not meet the
conditions set forth by Bobby.

- Bobby Brown asked Nick
to tell him what happened

and, if he did,

that he would allow Nick
to see Bobbi Kristina,

and he refused to do that,

which is what lead him to not
want Nick to have any contact

with Bobbi Kristina after she
was brought to the hospital.

- Then I started hearing
all the rumors.

At first, I was like,
"Nick? No, come on, Nick"...

I literally had no clue,

and I was very close to him.

- Nick insisted
he had nothing to do

with Bobbi Kristina's accident.

According to court documents,
two days later,

Nick went to the bank.

- It was February 2nd,
just a few days

after Bobbi Kristina
was found unconscious.

Nick was concerned about
where he was gonna get money,

and he withdrew
approximately $11,000.

He moved it from
Bobbi Kristina's account to his.

- Family members kept a vigil
by Bobbi Kristina's bedside.

Bobby Brown's lawyer
checked court records

and made a discovery.

Bobbi Kristina and Nick
weren't legally married.

So w did they pretend they were?

- She was never married.
We know that.

That truth came out.

You know, when you're a teenager
or you're young like that,

you want to say that you're
married to your boyfriend.

- Almost two weeks
after Bobbi Kristina

was found in the bathtub,

police obtained a search
warrant for the town house

and launched
a criminal investigation.

- Roswell Police Department
will not talk to us.

They won't tell us anything that
they did in their investigation.

We have no idea what happened
physically on the inside,

what evidence
that was collected.

- As months passed, family
and friends slowly lost hope

that Bobbi Kristina
would recover.

- Covering the Bobbi Kristina
case has been

one of the saddest things
that I've done as a journalist.

About five months after
she was first hospitalized,

the family made the decision
to move her to hospice.

And standing outside
the hospice and watching people

come and go...

hug each other and cry.

- Six months after she was
found in the bathtub

and suffered
irreversible brain damage,

Bobbi Kristina contracted
pneumonia and died.

- For a lot of people
in Atlanta,

Bobbi Kristina passing away--
it was almost like mourning

Whitney Houston all over again.

There were
so many tragic parallels

between the two cases.

- It's just a tragedy
that she died at 22 years old.

Didn't even have the chance
to really experience what she...

what she was supposed
to experience.

- According
to the medical examiner,

the official cause of death
was pneumonia and brain damage

caused by drug intoxication
and immersion in water.

The medical examiner's report
also noted that Bobbi Kristina

sustained acute injuries,

including multiple scars.

But here's a key point.

The report said her death

was clearly not due
to natural causes,

so the manner of her death
was undetermined.

As family and friends gathered
for another funeral,

there were still
so many unsettling questions.

A videotape deposition
that has never aired before now

may shed some light.

- Bobbi Kristina Brown suffered
the same terrible fate

as her mother, Whitney Houston.

But questions remained
about the manner

of Bobbi Kristina's death.

According
to the medical examiner,

it definitely wasn't
natural causes.

Family members were determined
to learn the truth.

- I said, "I know,
Krissy, don't worry."

I said, "I promise you.
I'm gonna fight for you."

- After Bobbi Kristina's death,
police in suburban Atlanta

wouldn't divulge any information

because it was an ongoing
criminal investigation.

Bobbi Kristina's family believed

Nick Gordon was responsible.

They filed a lawsuit that
claimed Nick's conduct caused

"substantial bodily harm
and ultimately

the wrongful death
of Bobbi Kristina Brown."

- It is not typical
to have the civil suit

before the criminal case,
but we didn't feel like

the district attorney was going
to do anything with the case,

and we wanted to move forward

and pursue
the wrongful-death claim

in order to get
some justice for her.

- According to court documents,

the civil lawsuit accused Nick
of giving Bobbi Kristina

a toxic cocktail,
rendering her unconscious

before putting her facedown
in a tub of cold water.

- There were claims
for assault and battery

for the abuse that Bobbi
Kristina was subjected to

by Nick Gordon
in the days leading up

to her being found unconscious.

- Through his attorneys,
Nick denied all the allegations,

calling the claims false,
criminal, and frivolous.

But remember Danyela Bradley,

the roommate who was in the
car crash with Bobbi Kristina?

Well, she provided
disturbing information

that may shed light
on the alleged abuse claims

In a videotape deposition,

Danyela offered testimony
about the accident,

but she also answered questions

about Bobbi Kristina's
volatile life with Nick.

- The first sentence--paragraph
ten says the defendant,

which is Nick Gordon,

physically abused
Bobbi Kristina.

Do you have any knowledge
one way or the other

as to whether or not
that is a true statement?

- Yes.
- Okay.

Tell me what you know

about abuse of Bobbi Kristina
by Nick Gordon.

- Nothing other than
what she has told me.

- Which was what?

- That she had been physically
abused by him before.

- Did she say in what way?

- Just hitting...

Pushing, throwing.

- Danyela was asked about
an alleged altercation

that reportedly took place

a few days
after the car accident.

- It goes on to state
that afterwards,

he began kicking
Bobbi Kristina...

In the side to the point
that she was on the floor,

screaming and curled up
in a fetal position

as a result
of the defendant's attack.

Bobbi Kristina's tooth
was knocked out,

and blood was on the floor.

Um...

were you a witness to that?

- Yes.

- It then states Gordon--
defendant, who is Nick Gordon,

then demanded
that she go upstairs.

Bobbi Kristina began crawling
on the floor

because she could not stand up

due to the injuries
defendant inflicted.

Defendant then dragged her
upstairs by her hair

and threw her
in the master bedroom,

leaving blood on the walls
and the staircase.

Afterward, Gordon stated
to persons present,

"I don't do this often,"

indicating this was not the
first time defendant beat her.

Did you hear that statement?

- Yes, sir.

- In court documents,
Nick denied these accusations.

But according to her deposition,

Danyela claimed
that wasn't the only incident

that allegedly took place.

Two days later,

in the early hours
of January 31, 2015,

she and Bobbi Kristina were in
the town house

when Nick Gordon returned
after a long night of partying.

- What was he looking like
and acting like?

- He was...

tired, angry...

drunk, um...

and maybe had, like...

And not--I don't want to say
he was full of energy,

but he--he wasn't asleep.

He wasn't sleepy.

- According to court documents,

Bobbi Kristina and Nick
got into a loud argument

that lasted about 30 minutes.

And then everything went quiet.

- Nick came
out of the master bedroom

wearing a different set
of clothes

than he had when he went in.

He went into a bedroom
where Max Lomas

and Danyela Bradley
were sitting.

He laid his head down
on Danyela's feet

and at some point
made the comment,

"Now I want a pretty
little white girl like you."

- When did that statement occur?

- After...

after he had came
out of Krissy's room.

- You didn't see Krissy again
until it was...

till Max found her in the tub?

Is that correct?
- Correct.

- Nick again denied
the allegations

and claimed he tried
to save Bobbi Kristina's life.

- The first thing that Nick did

was let the water
out of the bathtub.

- The lawsuit says that he
then later administered CPR

and was slapping her
in the face and saying,

"Wake up, wake up, wake up."

- According to Max, he was
just acting very strangely

and says,
"Clean up, clean up."

Her lip appeared to be swollen,

and she had another
loose tooth in her mouth.

At some point,
she coughed up water.

At some point,
somebody called 911.

- According to court documents,

the tub had been filled
with ice-cold water.

And a bizarre detail--

there was a dustpan
in the bottom of the tub.

But why would Bobbi Kristina
take a cold bath?

- Ice-cold water with a dustpan
in the bathtub with you--

it's, yeah, just kind of
a strange set of facts.

She also didn't want to be
around a bath all that often,

obviously because of what
happened with her mother.

So everybody
was kind of dismayed

by the fact
that she was in a bath.

- Not only did Whitney
die in a bathtub,

but don't forget Bobbi Kristina
reportedly blacked out

and woke up in a tub the night
before her mother died.

Whitney's death was an accident.

So what happened
to Bobbi Kristina?

- 16 months after the death
of Bobbi Kristina Brown,

family members appeared
in court demanding justice.

They were convinced
one person was responsible...

Krissy's boyfriend, Nick Gordon.

A wrongful-death lawsuit filed
against Gordon claimed

Nick gave Krissy
a toxic cocktail

before putting her facedown
in a tub of cold water.

- She's definitely afraid
of tubs

because of what happened
to her mother.

- Nick Gordon's
ex-girlfriend Sarah Gibson,

who first introduced him
to Bobbi Kristina

when she was 14 years old,
also appeared in court.

- She's a very dominant person,
and you know, he claimed

to protect her so much, and
I think that was the persona

that he tried to put on
for everybody

and then, slowly but surely,

pushed every single one of her
friends out of her life.

- I think that he was
systematically alienating her

and making her feel
like she had no one.

- When the time came for him
to defend himself in court,

Nick Gordon did not take
that opportunity.

- On September 16, 2016,

a judge entered
a judgment by default

after Nick Gordon failed
to appear in court.

Nick was found
legally responsible

for the death
of Bobbi Kristina Brown.

Nick was ordered to pay more
than $36 million in damages

to Bobbi Kristina's family.

- There was a claim
for pain and suffering,

a claim for assault and battery,

punitive damage claims
for both of those,

and then the wrongful-death
part of it,

the value of the life.

- Nick moved to Florida.

He maintained his innocence
and claimed he can't come up

with the money
to pay the judgment.

- We don't want Nick
to ever benefit from her death.

And so, if he ever writes
a book or goes on a show,

we want to be able to take
whatever he earns

so that he's not able
to profit from her death.

- In June 2017,

Nick was arrested in Florida
on domestic-battery charges

following an alleged altercation

with his girlfriend.

- Nick Gordon denied
the allegations.

- According to the state
attorney's office,

the woman later demanded
the charges be dropped.

The domestic-violence case
was closed

after Nick completed
an anger-management course.

In the meantime, the criminal
investigation

in connection with the death
of Bobbi Kristina

remains open.

- There's no way in hell
we should let it go

because justice
needs to be served.

- Bobbi Kristina...

She didn't do anything
to anybody to deserve that.

She was a good young girl.

She had a lot of dreams.

- This is a young girl
who lost her mom

and then lost her life

before she had the chance
to pursue her own dreams.

Just--how can your heart
not break?

- She wanted to always be
with her mommy.

The peace for me is that
she's up there with her mommy.

- Whitney Houston
was 22 years old

when she released
her first album.

Her only child, Bobbi Kristina,
was 22 when she died.

It's impossible to ignore
the tragic parallels--

the dysfunction, the drug abuse
that caused so much damage

and contributed to their deaths,

the unbelievable way
their lives were cut short.

But there was also incredible
love and fierce devotion,

and maybe
that's the real legacy.

For more
on "Mysteries and Scandals,"