BB King’s death will not be actively investigated amidst poisoning allegations, Las Vegas police have said.

His daughters Karen Williams and Patty King allege that family members were prevented from visiting the blues guitarist and accused King’s business manager, LaVerne Toney, and his personal assistant, Myron Johnson, of poisoning him in his final days.

Karen Williams (John Locher/AP)
Karen Williams (John Locher/AP)

Clark County Coroner John Fudenberg said there was no immediate evidence supporting the murder allegations, and Las Vegas police Lieutenant Ray Steiber said there was no active homicide investigation.

The attorney for King’s estate, Brent Bryson, called the claims ridiculous and “extremely disrespectful” to King.

He said three doctors determined that the star was appropriately cared-for, and received 24-hour care and monitoring by medical professionals “up until the time that he peacefully passed away in his sleep.”

BB King (Paul A Hebert/Invision/AP)
BB King (Paul A Hebert/Invision/AP)

“He did not want invasive medical procedures,” he said. “He made the decision to return home for hospice care instead of staying in a hospital. These unfounded allegations have caused Mr King to undergo an autopsy, which is exactly what he didn’t want.”

Toney is named in King’s will as executor of an estate that, according to court documents filed by lawyers for some of King’s heirs, could total tens of millions of dollars.

Johnson was at the musician’s bedside when he died May 14 in hospice care at home in Las Vegas at the age of 89. No family members were present.

Patty King at a memorial service for her father (John Locher/AP)
Patty King at a memorial service for her father (John Locher/AP)

“I believe my father was murdered. I believe my father was poisoned and that he was administered foreign substances,” Patty King and Williams say in identically worded sections of affidavits by their lawyer, Larissa Drohobyczer.

An autopsy was performed on Sunday (May 23), and test results will take up to eight weeks to obtain and shouldn’t be affected by the fact that King’s body had been embalmed, said Fudenberg.

Both Toney and Johnson have declined to comment on the accusations.

“They’ve been making allegations all along. What’s new?” said Toney, who worked for King for 39 years and had power-of-attorney over his affairs.

LaVerne Toney (John Locher/AP)
LaVerne Toney (John Locher/AP)

A petition filed on April 29 alleged that Toney had blocked King’s friends from visiting him and had put her family members on King’s payroll. It also alleged that large sums of money had disappeared from the musician’s bank accounts.

Williams, Patty King and another daughter – Rita Washington – have vowed to keep fighting, saying: “We lost the battle, but we haven’t lost the war.”

The latest allegations come days after a public viewing in Las Vegas drew more than 1,000 fans and mourners and a weekend family-and-friends memorial drew 350, including fellow guitarists Carlos Santana and Bon Jovi’s Richie Sambora.

Carlos Santana and wife Cindy Blackman at the memorial service (John Locher/AP)
Carlos Santana and wife Cindy Blackman at the memorial service (John Locher/AP)

A Beale Street procession and memorial are scheduled on May 27 in Memphis, Tennessee, followed by a viewing on May 29 and burial on May 30 in King’s hometown of Indianola, Mississippi.

Drohobyczer, who represents Williams, Patty King and most of King’s nine other adult children and heirs, said: “The family is sticking together… to oust Ms Toney based on her illegal conduct, conflicts of interest and self-dealing.”

She alleged that Toney hastened King’s death by “misconduct, or by failing to properly attend to his medical needs.”

An affidavit from Patty King, who used to live at King’s home, says she saw Johnson administer to King two drops of an unknown substance on his tongue during evenings for several months before his death, and that Toney never told her what the substance was.

But Bryson called Drohobyczer’s claims ridiculous, saying: “I hope they have a factual basis that they can demonstrate for their defamatory and libelous allegations.”