Mobile UPI  |   About UPI  |   UPI en Español  |   UPI Arabic  |   UPIU  |   My Account
Search:
Go

Houston autopsy done, no cause of death

|
|
 
  
Singer Whitney Houston (L) and her daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown arrive at the Pre-Grammy Gala & Salute to Industry Icons with Clive Davis honoring David Geffen in Beverly Hills, California on February 12, 2011. UPI/Jim Ruymen 
License photo
Published: Feb. 12, 2012 at 11:12 PM

LOS ANGELES, Feb. 12 (UPI) -- An autopsy was conducted on Whitney Houston's remains in Los Angeles Sunday, but officials said afterward her cause of death remained unknown.

Law-enforcement sources told TMZ the 48-year-old, Grammy-winning pop singer had water in her lungs when she died Saturday at the Beverly Hilton hotel, but the cause of her death would not be determined until the results were obtained from toxicology tests.

The celebrity news Web site said authorities suspect Houston may have fallen asleep or lapsed into unconsciousness in her hotel bathtub and drowned after drinking alcohol and taking Xanax.

Authorities had said bottles of prescription drugs were found in the hotel room where she died. Houston had long battled addictions to drugs and alcohol.

Houston's daughter Bobbi Kristina Brown suffered a "complete breakdown" after learning of her mother's death in Los Angeles, sources told People.com.

The magazine said on its Web site the recording star's 18-year-old daughter was in the lobby of the Hilton about the time Houston was pronounced dead in her room Saturday afternoon when she heard the devastating news.

"[Bobbi Kristina] was screaming: 'What's wrong with her? What's wrong with her?," People.com quoted an unidentified source close to the family as saying.

Bobbi Kristina, whose father is singer Bobby Brown, was taken to Cedars Sinai Medical Center Saturday night "because she was having a complete breakdown," the insider said.

She returned to the hospital a second time Sunday morning.

"She went back to the hospital for the same thing -- stress and anxiety," the family source said. She has since been released, People.com reported.

Pastor Joe A. Carter led congregants in a prayer service Sunday at the Newark, N.J., church where Houston had been a member.

The pastor petitioned "the Lord on behalf of Whitney's daughter, her mother, and the entire Houston family," said a statement posted on the Web site of New Hope Baptist Church.

Houston's mother, Cissy Houston, a renowned performer of gospel and pop music and director of the church's sacred music for more than half a century, had been in touch with Carter who said "she needs our prayers and support," CNN reported.

"Whitney was a mother, a daughter, a sister, and that's the focus that we want to keep in front of everyone today, to continue to lift the family up and respect this time of grief," Carter said.

The history of New Hope Baptist Church is "deeply associated with the power of Whitney's voice and the influence that she's had, not only in this church but across the world," Carter said. "We're saddened at this loss."

Topics: Whitney Houston, Beverly Hilton, Bobby Brown, Bobbi Kristina
Recommended Stories
© 2012 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

Order reprints
  
Join the conversation
Most Popular Collections
Protesters, police clash at NATO summit Notable deaths of 2012 2012 Billboard Music Awards
The 137th Preakness Stakes Annual Solar eclipse occurs in U.S. Chen Guangcheng arrives in the U.S.
Additional Entertainment News Stories
1 of 29
Members of the Army's Old Guard place flags at Arlington National Ceremtery
View Caption
U.S. flags are seen in the rucksack of a soldier with the Army's 3d U.S. Infantry Regiment, The Old Guard, as he places flags at gravesites in Arlington National Cemetery as part of the Flags-In Memorial Day ceremony on May 24, 2012 in Arlington, Virginia. American flags were placed at each of the more than 220,000 grave markers in honor of those who served and Memorial Day. UPI/Kevin Dietshc
fark
Can you order top shelf hookers at the Travelodge? It's more likely than you think. (Not safe for...
70 years ago today Czech partisans made Hitler very angry
Newly upgraded to a tropical storm and now Beryling in on Southeast coast
Man tries, fails to buy meal at Denny's with $1 and bag of pot. You'd think if there was anywhere...
Photoshop this multicolored specimen having a snack
Couple married for 65 years reveals secret of marital bliss: wearing matching outfits wherever they...