B.B. King aide files defamation lawsuit

Another legal battle has erupted in the wake of musician B.B. King's death.

King's tour manager, Las Vegas resident Myron N. Johnson, filed a defamation lawsuit Thursday against three of the blues legend's daughters.

"It needs to be done," Johnson said at a Friday news conference. "My name needs to be cleared."

Johnson's lawsuit claims the daughters harmed Johnson's reputation by falsely accusing him of "stealing from Mr. King, neglecting Mr. King, poisoning Mr. King, and murdering Mr. King."

Johnson, who is represented by Las Vegas attorney Brent Bryson, filed the complaint in Clark County District Court against Karen Williams, Patty King and Rita Washington.

"It wasn't an easy decision," Johnson said. "What you all may not know, and probably don't, is that one of the people involved and most outspoken, Karen Williams, is actually my sister, and that has never been brought out before, and it's about time that it is. It caused great disappointment to my mother and the rest of my family."

King, whose legal name was Riley B. King, was in hospice care when he died in his Las Vegas home on May 14 at age 89. An autopsy was performed after Johnson and another aide, LaVerne Toney, were accused of hastening King's death by poisoning him, but the Clark County coroner's office announced in July that King died of natural causes.

"This is just more negativity that we don't need," Washington said of Johnson's lawsuit.

In a telephone interview Friday, the North Las Vegas resident said almost four months have passed since King's death, but "the family has not had any real time to grieve."

Many heirs

King had 11 surviving adult children.

Washington and four of her sisters previously went to court to challenge the appointment of Toney, King's longtime manager, as personal representative of his estate.

In June, Clark County District Judge Gloria Sturman appointed Toney over their objections. She said King's plans were expressed in his 2007 will, which designated Toney as the sole executor of his estate.

"I haven't seen anything that tells me he would have wanted that changed," the judge said at the time.

Bryson said Sturman's decision vindicated Toney, but the lawsuit is Johnson's "first opportunity to clear his name."

Las Vegas attorney Larissa Drohobyczer represented Williams, Patty King and Washington in the estate litigation.

After learning about the defamation lawsuit against the three women, Drohobyczer said, "Truth is a defense to defamation. If what they're saying is true, he doesn't have a case, and that's a question of fact."

She described Williams as Johnson's half-sister.

Johnson's lawsuit claims Williams, Patty King and Washington began making defamatory statements about him in late 2014, and those statements "would lead the public and third parties to believe that Johnson was physically, emotionally, and financially abusing Riley B. King."

The lawsuit also claims the defendants conspired to prevent Johnson from conducting his normal business affairs. Their scheme was "designed to maximize the probability that Johnson's existing and prospective clients would terminate their relationship" with him, according to the document.

Johnson said he still works with celebrities and artists. He is seeking general damages of more than $10,000, as well as punitive and exemplary damages.

Close associate

Johnson said he began working for King as his personal assistant in 2005 and later became his tour manager. He said he and a health care worker were the only people with King when he died.

"This is someone that I've had a history with, all of his children," Johnson said. "I'm known to them. They're known to me. And it was beyond any doubt that my position with Mr. King was to serve, to help him, to be there, someone he could depend on, if you will, and to provide him with the support that he obviously wasn't getting from those who claimed to have loved him so much."

Johnson later told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that he was closer to King than anyone during the past decade. He said King had asked him "to never leave his side."

"The man didn't got to the bathroom if I didn't go with him," Johnson said.

Johnson, 55, said he had known King as a family friend since the age of 9. He said he and Williams, who is older, were among 10 children who grew up in the same household. Johnson's own father died when he was 4.

He said he and Williams had a close relationship until they had a falling out over money in mid-2014.

Contact reporter Carri Geer Thevenot at cgeer@reviewjournal.com or 702-384-8710. Follow her on Twitter: @CarriGeer.