Artist News Legal

BB King daughters accuse business associates of murder

By Andy Malt | Published on Tuesday 26 May 2015

Two of BB King’s daughters, Karen Williams and Patty King, have accused the musician’s business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, of murdering the blues legend. As previously reported, King died earlier this month, aged 89.

The women claim that family members were barred from visiting King in the hospice where he was receiving treatment towards the end of his life, and accuse Toney and Johnson of poisoning him by “administered foreign substances”, according to affidavits released to the Associated Press by their lawyer Larissa Drohobyczer.

Toney worked for King for almost 40 years, and had power of attorney over the musician’s affairs towards the end of his life. She is named in his will as the executor of his estate. Commenting on the accusations, she reportedly: “They’ve been making allegations all along. What’s new?”

One of the lawyers representing King’s estate, Brent Bryson, added to the AP: “I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libellous allegations. This is extremely disrespectful to BB King. He did not want invasive medical procedures. He made the decision to return home for hospice care instead of staying in a hospital. These unfounded allegations have caused Mr King to undergo an autopsy, which is exactly what he didn’t want”.

Las Vegas police confirmed that they are now investigating the claims, but said there is no active homicide investigation currently. It will be decided if further action needs to be taken based on results of a post-mortem, which are expected to be returned in eight weeks.