Whitney Houston: Could More Have Been Done to Save Her?

Feb. 13, 2012— -- It's the question on everyone's minds: Could more have been done to save Whitney Houston?

"It's always something more you could have done," brother-in-law Billy Watson told ABCNews.com.

But, like so many, the family -- a close-knit bunch who worked and traveled with Houston over the years -- believed she was on the road to recovery after multiple stints in rehab, including one last spring.

"We were all feeling she was on her way back," said Watson, whose sister, Patricia, is married to Houston's brother, Gary. "She had a few stumbling blocks in the way, but she was on her way back."

Patricia Houston, who managed Houston, and her husband were in Los Angeles with the singer, when her lifeless body was found in the bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel Saturday. Watson's older brother, Ray Watson, who has been Houston's personal bodyguard for more than a dozen years, first discovered her body.

"He's pretty well tore up right now," Billy Watson said the morning.

Bobbi Kristina, Houston's daughter with ex-husband Bobby Brown, was "doing OK" after she "broke down" over the weekend and had to be taken to the hospital twice for stress and anxiety, he added.

Los Angeles assistant chief coroner Ed Winter maintained at a news conference today that officials do not know the 48-year-old singer's cause of death. He confirmed to ABC News' L.A. affiliate KABC that officials found prescription bottles in Houston's hotel room, but said there wasn't anything "alarming" or "out of the ordinary." A source told KABC that one of the prescriptions was amoxicillin, an antibiotic commonly used to treat bacterial infections.

They were all "pretty normal" prescriptions, Winter said, adding, "I have more prescriptions than what was found in her [Houston's] room."

TMZ reported earlier today that family sources briefed by coroner officials were told Houston likely died from a combination of the drug Xanax and other prescription medication mixed with alcohol.

Watson said he doesn't believe Houston's death was intentional.

"Oh no, this is accidental, she wouldn't have left her daughter like that," he said. "She wouldn't have done that to her daughter."

Indeed, mother and daughter had been working in the studio on launching 18-year-old Bobbi Kristina's career and Houston was excited about the future.

"I was with her on New Year's Eve," Watson said. "We talked for a while, and she was in good spirits. She was talking about the movie she had just finished ['Sparkle' with 'American Idol' Winner Jordin Sparks], she talking about her daughter and where she was headed. She said she was back on her feet and ready to roll."

Now, questions are emerging about how she was rolling. Houston spent Friday night at the bar of the Beverly Hilton with a group of friends, according to TMZ. She stayed for a long time, drinking and being loud, the website reported.

"The one thing you can't do is protect people from themselves," a former Houston associate told ABCNews.com.

Houston revealingly told ABC News' Diane Sawyer in 2002 that she was her "worst enemy."

"Nobody makes me do anything I don't want to do," she said. "The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy."

The former associate implied that Houston's decision to insulate herself with a small group of family members in the past decade was possibly to her own detriment.

Another former associate told ABCNews.com that Houston was "an incredibly intuitive woman hurt by celebrity."

"Whitney was someone who wanted to be normal and just go for a slice of pizza at a place she liked near her home in New Jersey, but she wound up eating it in her car. The eyes on her were too much," the former associate said.

The youngest of three children of the legendary gospel singer Cissy Houston, Whitney Houston was also not the only family member to run afoul with drugs.

Her other brother, Michael Houston, was arrested for a DUI in Fort Lee, N.J., in 2001, according to the Bergen Record.

When officers searched his car, they found 14 partially smoked marijuana cigarettes, a bag of marijuana and some cocaine, according to the newspaper.

Michael, who penned songs with Houston for the "Waiting to Exhale" soundtrack," told Radar Online, "We are devastated," after the death of his little sister before refusing to comment further.