Las Vegas police
have launched a homicide investigation into the death of B.B. King, a coroner's
office said Monday, after the
daughters of the blues guitar legend reportedly
accused his aides of
poisoning him.
King died aged 89 on May 14 in Las
Vegas, where he lived while he kept up a gruelling schedule of tours that ended
only last year. King suffered from Type II diabetes for the last two decades of
his life.
Two of his daughters -- Karen
Williams and Patty King -- have alleged he was poisoned by his business manager
Laverne Toney and his personal assistant, Eonline reported.
"I believe my father was
poisoned and that he was administrated foreign substances to induce his
premature death," the daughters wrote in separate but identical
affidavits, the entertainment site said.
"(I) request a formal
investigation into this matter," the court documents reportedly said.
Despite his legendary musical
status, King's final days were clouded by an apparent dispute between his
family and manager over his care.
Toney, who is the executor of King's
estate, shrugged off the daughters' charge.
"They've been making
allegations all along. What's new?" Toney said, according to Eonline.
An attorney for King's estate also
dismissed the daughters' accusations as "ridiculous".
"I hope they have a factual
basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libellous
allegations," Brent Bryson said in a statement, according to the
entertainment site.
Earlier the local coroner confirmed
the homicide investigation and said that King's remains would undergo an
autopsy.
"Our coroner takes jurisdctn
over #BBKing body, performs autopsy. Results:6-8wks min. Homicide investgtn w/
@LVMPD," the Clark County, Nevada coroner's office announced on Twitter,
referring to the Las Vegas police department.
Given the timeframe for the autopsy,
local media reported King's burial in his home state of Mississippi will likely
be postponed.
Riley B. King was born in poverty
and grew up working in cotton fields, but went on to master the guitar and
entered the music business after travelling to Memphis and working for radio
stations.
He became known as the Beale Street
Blues Boy, which eventually earned him the moniker B.B. King.
For decades, King played shows
almost every night, becoming the premier ambassador for the blues -- the music
genre that emerged from African American spirituals in the Deep South.
King won 15 Grammy awards over his
career and is considered a master of the guitar who influenced a generation of
musicians.
In Memphis, his longtime place of
residence, the B.B. King Museum and Delta Interpretive Center opened in 2008 to
showcase artifacts from the legendary guitarist, as well as the cultural
heritage of the Mississippi Delta.
Source:AFP
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