Bobbi Kristina Brown's autopsy report has been unsealed.
Following Brown's tragic passing on 26 July (15), six months after she was found face down and unresponsive in a bathtub at her Georgia home, an autopsy was completed the day after her death. An initial report proved inconclusive, and it was sealed in September (15) at the request of authorities investigating the case.
On Thursday (03Mar16), Fulton County Superior Court Judge Henry M. Newkirk ruled the protective order keeping the report confidential should now be lifted, as per the request of lawyers for local station 11Alive News.
Shortly after the judge's decision, the Fulton County Medical Examiner released a statement online revealing that while the report is now unsealed, officials won't be releasing any of the information until they are told to by the court.
According to the New York Daily News, 11Alive News argued the public had a right to know how Brown had died, but police officials insisted unsealing the autopsy report could jeopardise their criminal investigation involving the 22-year-old's boyfriend, Nick Gordon.
No criminal charges have been filed, but Gordon is facing a $10 million (£7.1 million) wrongful death lawsuit from Brown's court-appointed co-conservator, Bedelia Hargrove. He denies any wrongdoing.
The judge ruled in the news station's favour. However, District Attorney Paul Howard, who was responsible for asking for the autopsy results to be sealed, has urged the media to behave with discretion going forward.
"As citizens and officers of the court we must... follow the orders and instructions of the court," he said in a statement. "We would hope that news agencies and the media receiving the report would do so with the discretion and dignity a family who has lost a loved one deserves.
"Our investigation into the death of Bobbi Kristina Brown will continue."
Brown was the only child of Whitney Houston and Bobby Brown.
