Nick Gordon passed on Jan. 1, 2020 of a suspected substance overdose.
He was just 30 years old.
On top of being tragically cut short, Gordon's life was also troubled and traumatic.
Mostly known for his associations with Whitney Houston and Bobbi Kristina Brown, there was
more to Nick Gordon than meets the eye.
TMZ obtained audio from a 911 call made to get Gordon help the night of his passing.
The caller said that Gordon wasn't breathing, and described a black discharge emitting from
his mouth, which TMZ reported is a possible symptom of an opioid overdose.
No official cause of his pasing was immediately made available, but People reported that Gordon
overdosed on substances.
According to the Daily Mail, Gordon suffered heart attacks in the hours leading up to his
death.
He was pronounced passed away at Altamonte Springs Hospital in Florida.
Nick Gordon attained notoriety as the boyfriend of the late Bobbi Kristina Brown, herself
the daughter of the late Whitney Houston.
At first, he was considered a friend of the family after moving in with them at the age
of 12.
"I was going to high school.
My mom had kicked me out of the house.
And Krissy being my friend, I got to know Whitney.
She took me in."
At first, Nick and Bobbi Kristina enjoyed what some saw as more of a brother-sister
bond.
When the relationship between the two became romantic, the Houstons tried to intervene.
In 2013, Cissy Houston, Bobbi Kristina's grandmother, wrote an open letter imploring her to not
marry Nick, reportedly believing that Nick was a negative influence.
Seven years later, with both Brown and Gordon having now passed away, the family's worst
fears appear to have come to pass.
Bobbi Kristina passed away in July 2015 at the age of 22 after being found face-down in a bathtub
with substances and alcohol in her system.
After Nick's passing in 2020, his brother Jack Walker, Jr. told People,
"There was not a day that went by that he didn't get emotional about [Bobbi Kristina].
He would always say to me, 'I wish I could have done things differently, man.
I wish things had been different.
She shouldn't have gone the way she did.'"
Although Nick Gordon was held legally responsible for Bobbi Kristina Brown's passing, it was essentially
due to a technicality.
According to ET, Brown's court-appointed conservator filed a $10 million wrongful passing lawsuit
against Gordon in the summer of 2015.
After Gordon failed to appear in court, the judge entered a default judgment against him.
In November 2016, a judge awarded Brown's estate damages in excess of $36 million, to
be paid by Gordon, according to the Associated Press.
People additionally reported that Gordon was accused of physically hurting Brown, and
also attempted to isolate her from her family and control her finances.
The wrongful passing suit also alleged that Gordon had placed an unconscious Brown in
the bathtub on the night she drowned.
It should be noted, however, that Gordon was never charged with any crime related to Brown's
passing.
Gordon vehemently denied allegations of hurt towards Brown and told the Daily
Mail in April 2016 that his actions on the night she was discovered in the bathtub were
all made in an effort to save her life.
After Bobbi Kristina's drowning, Nick Gordon reportedly tried to get sober.
But he didn't stop using prescription substances or abusing alcohol.
Following a binge of whiskey and pills, he went to rehab at the behest of his mother
and Dr. Phil McGraw, with a source alleging that Gordon was at risk of kidney failure
and passing prior to the intervention.
Speaking with Radar Online, a friend of Brown, Steven Stepho, said that prior to the intervention,
Brown and Gordon used substances together daily.
Stepho told the tab that he had known Brown and Gordon to spend hundreds of dollars a
day on narcotics, and would spend their days intoxicated and unconscious, with Brown being
marked with cigarette burns from passing out while smoking.
"I am detoxed."
"No you're not.
You're drunk and you're on substances."
"No, I'm drunk."
Still, Gordon reportedly attempted to get and stay clean after McGraw's intervention.
His lawyer Joe Habachy told People at the time,
"Despite all of the incredible challenges Nick faced over the last few years I can honestly
say that he worked hard to hold his head up and stay sober and that he genuinely wanted
a happy healthy life with his family more than anything else."
After Nick Gordon's passing, Gordon's attorney said he was heartbroken by his first-hand
knowledge of the ravages that substance abuse made on Gordon, Bobbi Kristina, and their friends.
"While I cannot speak to the specific circumstances of his passing, I can say that it's been truly
heartbreaking to have witnessed first hand the total devastation that substance addiction
has wreaked upon a group of young friends, all of whom were loved and had immense potential."