A murder
investigation has been launched into the death of blues legend BB King after
two of his daughters claimed he was poisoned.
Karen
Williams and Patty King said the musician was given "foreign substances to
induce his premature death" by his business manager Laverne Toney.
Lawyers
for King's estate said the claims are unfounded and disrespectful.
But the
possibility of homicide will now be investigated by the coroner and police in
Nevada.
"Our
coroner takes jurisdiction over #BBKing body, performs autopsy," the Clark
County Coroner's office wrote on Twitter on Monday.
Coroner
John Fudenberg told CNN that the initial autopsy results found "no
evidence to substantiate the allegations" made by King's daughters.
However,
he added that full forensic results would take six to eight weeks to arrive.
'Ridiculous' claims
King died
in his sleep at his Las Vegas home on 14 May, aged 89.
At the
time, his doctor and the coroner said he had died of a series of small strokes
connected to his Type 2 diabetes.
But the
guitarist's daughters alleged that King's personal assistant Myron Johnson and
Toney gave him medication to induce diabetic shock.
Karen
Williams had previously accused King's business manager of elder abuse and
neglect
The women
added that "King was sequestered from all family members" in the week
before his death, and that Toney and Johnson were the only people with him.
Toney, who
is the executor of King's estate, shrugged off the daughters' claims.
"They've
been making allegations all along. What's new?" she told the Associated
Press.
A lawyer
for King's estate also dismissed the accusations as "ridiculous".
"I
hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory
and libellous allegations," Brent Bryson said in a statement.
Earlier
this year, Patty King, Karen Williams and a third daughter, Rita Washington,
went to court accusing Toney of neglect, but the case was dismissed because of
a lack of evidence.
Funeral
King was
born on 16 September 1925 to sharecroppers and worked in the cotton fields as a
child before picking up the guitar.
Considered
one of the world's greatest players, he was known for his sharp single notes
and vibrato on the electric guitar he christened Lucille.
Known for
songs such as The Thrill Is Gone, Three O'Clock Blues and Darlin' You Know I
Love You, he influenced generations of guitar players, and was inducted to both
the Blues Foundation Hall of Fame and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
He was
married twice and had 15 natural and adopted children, 11 of whom are still
alive.
His
funeral is scheduled to be held on Friday in Mississippi.
The Clark
County coroner said his investigation would not delay the service.
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