Winehouse planned to adopt 10-year-old girl

LONDON, Aug. 1 (UPI) -- Amy Winehouse's publicist says the late British soul singer had not been in the process of adopting a child from the island of St. Lucia.

Winehouse, who had long battled addictions to drugs and alcohol, died more than a week ago in her London flat. The cause of her death at age 27 has not been determined.

Dannika Augustine's grandmother, bar manager Marjorie Lambert, told Britain's Daily Mirror Winehouse had hired lawyers to handle the adoption of the 10-year-old girl, who is living in ­poverty on the Caribbean island with her single mother.

Winehouse met Dannika while on vacation two years ago and returned to visit her several times. Lambert said the girl's family supported the notion of Winehouse adopting her.

"Amy loved Dannika with all her heart. I don't know why Amy took to Dannika above all the other children on the island, but from the moment they met they were ­inseparable. They would spend all day playing, horse-riding and walking up and down the beach hand-in-hand," Lambert told the newspaper.

"Amy used to beg me: 'I want to adopt Dannika. I want to take her to England.' She was prepared to move to St. Lucia to be her full-time mum. Amy wanted to have a child so bad. If she had not died, there is no doubt she would be here in St. Lucia ­completing the adoption process. There is no way she would have done what she did to herself if Dannika was with her."

The girl told The Mirror: "Amy was already my mother. I would call her mum and she would call me her ­daughter. She took care of me and we had fun together. I loved her and she loved me. She was the most amazing person and I was looking forward to living with her here [St. Lucia] or in London. I cannot believe she is gone. This is the worst thing that ever happened to me."

Despite the claims, Winehouse's representative told UsMagazine.com Monday, "She was not in the process of legally adopting anyone."

"Amy isn't around to say what she meant and you can't go after this poor girl," an unnamed insider close to the Winehouse told UsMagazine.com separately. "But there were definitely no official adoption plans."