Coroner says BB King was not poisoned before he died

(Image credit: Larry Busacca/Getty Images)

published 14 July 2015

A Nevada coroner announced Monday that an autopsy of blues legend BB King shows the cause of death as Alzheimer's disease with other physical conditions, not poisoning, as two of his children alleged.

King died May 14 in Las Vegas at the age of 89, and Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said that there were no signs of poisoning before he died of natural causes. Through an attorney, King's daughters Karen Williams and Patty King have said their father's business manager, LaVerne Toney, and personal assistant, Myron Johnson, were behind his death, The Associated Press reports. A lawyer for the King estate, Toney, and Johnson said the claims are libelous and defamatory.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.