Nick Gordon Found Civilly Liable in Bobbi Kristina Brown's Death
Brown's estate is seeking millions in the wrongful death suit.
— -- Nick Gordon has been found civilly liable in the death of his girlfriend Bobbi Kristina Brown, who died last year at the age of 22.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge T. Jackson Bedford ruled that Gordon was liable by default after he failed to appear in court for the second time in the wrongful death civil suit brought by Brown's estate, according to The Associated Press and paperwork obtained by ABC News.
“I am pleased with the outcome of today’s court proceedings," Bobbi Kristina's father, Bobby Brown, told ABC News in a statement. "All I ever wanted was answers relating to who and what caused my daughter’s death. Today’s judgment tells me it was Nick Gordon. Now I need to process all the emotions I have and lean on God to get me and my family through this.”
The next step is a jury trial to determine the amount of damages Gordon will be obligated to pay her estate. No criminal charges have been filed against Gordon or anyone else in Bobbi Kristina Brown's death, The AP reported.
Bobbi Kristina Brown died in July 2015 after being found unresponsive in her Roswell, Georgia, home months earlier. The daughter of the late Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown was found face down in her bathtub by Gordon and her friend Max Lomas on Jan. 31, 2015, according to local police. A completed autopsy this past March reported that Bobbi Kristina Brown died from "lobar pneumonia" due to being immersed “in water, complicating mixed drug intoxication."
Bobbi Kristina Brown was found to have marijuana, alcohol, medications for sedation, and morphine in her system at the time of her death, the autopsy stated.
Bobbi Kristina Brown's estate hit Gordon with the civil suit in June 2015 to the tune of $10 million in punitive damages, according to the paperwork obtained by ABC News.
The lawsuit claimed Gordon fraudulently depicted himself as her husband in 2014 to "limit whom she could interact" with, stole funds from her and transferred them into his own account, and domestic violence. Though Bobbi Kristina Brown and Gordon claimed they were married on social media and to the press, the claim was later found to be untrue. The two were living together, however.
In September 2015, Gordon filed to have the civil suit thrown out, calling the claims "false" and "frivolous,” according to the paperwork.
ABC News has reached out to the attorney for Bobbi Kristina Brown's estate, R. David Ware, for comment, but he did not immediately respond. Gordon's legal team has also not immediately responded to a request for comment.