Atlanta Prosecutor Re-Examines James Brown’s Cause of Death

James Brown died on Christmas Day in 2006 of an apparent heart attack and fluid in his lungs. But the doctor who signed Brown’s death certificate, Marvin Crawford, wondered if the singer’s death had actually been caused because a toxic substance in his system triggered the heart attack. Crawford was surprised at how quickly Brown’s condition changed once he was hospitalized.

After Crawford shared his suspicion with CNN in a 2017 interview, CNN aired an investigative series a year later that dug a little deeper into the circumstances surrounding Brown’s death. At least 13 people demanded an autopsy or an opened criminal investigation into Brown’s death as a result of CNN’s investigation.

Jacquelyn Hollander, a former singer with the Carson & Barnes Circus, contacted CNN in 2017 to report that Brown had been murdered. And on February 12 of this year, she met with Paul Howard, the district attorney in Fulton County, GA. Hollander gave Howard a list of potential witnesses, a stack of printed text messages, and a plastic storage bin filled that she claimed contained evidence.

Howard said that after he’d questioned the potential witnesses and examined all the evidence, he would make the decision whether to open a full-blown death investigation.