Nick Gordon’s former attorney reflects on his client’s final years

ATLANTA — We are getting more details on the death of someone once close to the late singer Whitney Houston.

Nick Gordon died New Year’s Eve.

He's also the man many in her family accused of causing her daughter's death.

Channel 2’s Dave Huddleston covered the story for weeks in 2015, when Bobbi Kristina was in a local hospital. Gordon wanted to visit her, but her family wouldn’t allow it.

His former attorney told Huddleston that Gordon’s death didn't shock him.

"I hated to hear it. I wasn't surprised, and I hope he is in a better place,” Atlanta attorney Randy Kessler said.

In 2015, he represented Gordon when he wanted to visit Bobbi Kristina while she lay in a coma at Emory University Hospital, but it never happened.

"They just wouldn't have it. They didn't want him there. We all thought, ‘What's the harm? He kisses her on the forehead and there's a miracle, she opens her eyes, you never know,’" Kessler said.

But the family believed Gordon was responsible for Bobbi Kristina’s fatal injuries. She was found face-down in a bathtub at their Roswell town home. She died 6 months later.

In 2016, a judge ruled Gordon was responsible for her death and ordered him to pay $36 million in a wrongful death case.

"if they haven't seen it by now, they're not going to see it,” Kessler said.

Kessler says through the years, he would stay in touch with Gordon through texts and emails.

Gordon died New Year’s Eve in Florida. Police have not confirmed it, but his brother says he died of a drug overdose.

He was 30 years old.

The Fulton County Medical Examiner never determined if Bobbi Kristina killed herself, if someone else killed her or if her death was an accident.

Kessler told Huddleston he never thought Gordon was responsible.

© 2020 Cox Media Group