Was Music Legend B.B. King Poisoned?

Two daughters of the legendary blues artist B.B. King are insisting that their father’s recent death was not from natural causes, despite contrary initial autopsy reports. According to court documents, King’s daughters Patty King and Karen Williams allege that two of their father’s closest aides conspired to poison the “King of Blues” by administering diabetic shock-inducing drugs.

In two identically-worded affidavits, both women accused King’s aides, Louise Laverne Toney and Myron Johnson, of having administered “medications, fluids, and foreign objects” to King despite being “medically unlicensed.” The daughters claim that King was also “sequestered from all family members” and Toney, King’s business manager, and Johnson, his personal assistant, were the only individuals to have been in his presence for the week prior to his death. Both women wrote,

I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances to induce his premature death, and request a formal investigation into the matter.

…I believe my father was murdered.

According to CNN, King, 89, died May 14 while in home hospice care in Las Vegas. His preliminary autopsy report listed the cause of death as multi-infarct dementia, which is caused by a series of small strokes and can be a complication of diabetes. King had suffered from type 2 diabetes for over two decades and  was a high profile spokesman for the disease.

With all current signs pointing to diabetes as King’s cause of death, contention from both daughters may stem from control over his estate, which has been estimated at several million dollars. King, who was rumored to have fathered 15 children with 15 different women, named Toney, his employee of 39 years, as executor of his estate.

According to the Associated Press, Williams had attempted to take over as King’s guardian in an April 29 petition, in which Patty King and a third daughter, Rita Washington, accused Toney of elder neglect and embezzlement. However, on May 7 Clark County Family Court Hearing Master Jon Norheim said that “police and social services investigations in October and April uncovered no reason to take power-of-attorney from Toney” and dismissed the request.

Police are not currently investigating King’s death as a homicide and all parties have declined to comment, but a lawyer for King’s estate interviewed by the AP calls the allegations “ridiculous” and “extremely disrespectful” to King. Attorney Brent Bryson told the AP on Monday,

Three doctors determined that King was appropriately cared-for, and King received 24-hour care and monitoring by medical professionals “up until the time that he peacefully passed away in his sleep.”

At this time it doesn’t seem likely that investigators will change their stance on King’s death, but the lack of a formal investigation may do little to quell the conflict between King’s children and his associates. If the speculations surrounding the death of “American Top 40” voice Casey Kasem are any indication, the fall out could span years, which would be an unfortunate end for the famed musician’s legacy.

Alexis Evans

Alexis Evans is an Assistant Editor at Law Street and a Buckeye State native. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Journalism and a minor in Business from Ohio University. Contact Alexis at aevans@LawStreetMedia.com.