B.B. King: Coroner’s report states singer wasn’t poisoned as daughters claimed

On Monday, July 13, John Fudenberg, the coroner in Clark County, Nevada announced: “We ruled it Alzheimer’s disease as the cause of death with other significant contributing factors”.

Despite the sordid controversy following his death, King was buried on May 30 near a museum bearing his name in his native Mississippi.

But the coroner found no evidence to prove the allegation of poisoning.

The blues legend passed away at the age of 89 in May after receiving hospice care in Las Vegas, with his death at the time attributed to a series of small strokes caused by his Type 2 diabetes disease. With the coroner’s report showing no poison in King’s system, the coroner’s investigation is officially closed even though the King family can legally hire a private forensic pathologist to conduct an independent autopsy. King, two of his daughters claimed that the guitarist had been poisoned, which prompted a state investigation into his death. “Our condolences go out to the family and many friends of Mr. King, and we hope this determination brings them some measure of closure”, he added, reports NBC News. “I believe my father was murdered”, King and Williams said in court documents filed following the musician’s death.

Brent Bryson – a lawyer for King’s estate, Toney and Johnson – called the claims defamatory and libelous.

King had 15 children from several different relationships.

In May, King’s daughters Karen Williams and Patty King alleged that their father had been poisoned by his former business manager LaVerne Toney and assistant Myron Johnson.