Whitney Houston Autopsy: White Residue Found On Spoon In Hotel Room. Died from accidental drowning.
By ANTHONY MCCARTNEY, Associated Press
LOS ANGELES -- Detectives found white powdery substances and a spoon with white residue in the hotel room where Whitney Houston died, according to the final autopsy report released Wednesday.
Houston had cocaine throughout her system when she died, the report said, and a "spoon with a white crystal like substance in it, a rolled up piece of white paper from off the top of a counter along the east wall of the bathroom" were found. The report does not specifically identify the substances as cocaine, although the drug was found in toxicology tests in Houston's heart and extremities.
Assistant Chief Coroner Ed Winter said he could not discuss how recently Houston may have used the drug.
Beverly Hills Police Lt. Mark Rosen said their investigation is still open and he could not comment on the findings.
On her final day alive, Houston complained of a sore throat, and an assistant suggested she take a bath before preparing for a pre-Grammy party, according to the report.
The Grammy-winning singer died Feb. 11 after drowning in a bathtub at the Beverly Hilton Hotel. Her death has been ruled as accidental and coroner's officials cited heart disease and cocaine use as contributing factors.
Her death came just hours before a pre-Grammy gala thrown by her mentor Clive Davis. She was attempting another comeback by starring in a remake of the film "Sparkle," in which she plays the mother of three girls who form a singing group and struggle with fame and drug addiction.
A trailer released Monday featured Houston prominently, including a snippet of her performance of the classic gospel song "His Eye Is on the Sparrow."
Toxicology results also showed Houston had marijuana, Xanax, the muscle relaxant Flexeril, and the allergy medication Benadryl in her system.
The singer also had buildup of plaque in her arteries that can restrict blood flow. Winter has said the condition is common in drug users.
The singer had battled addiction for years, but friends and family have said she appeared committed to making a comeback in the months before her death.
"The biggest devil is me. I'm either my best friend or my worst enemy," Houston told ABC's Diane Sawyer in an infamous 2002 television interview with then-husband Bobby Brown by her side.
Bobby Brown Explains Why He Left Whitney Houston’s Funeral
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(Jackson Lee/Splash News)
Bobby Brown left Whitney Houston’s funeral at Newark, N.J.’s New Hope Baptist Church shortly after the service began.
Bobby Brown left Whitney Houston’s funeral at Newark, N.J.’s New Hope Baptist Church shortly after the service began.
In a statement put out by his representative, he explained, “My children and I were invited to the funeral of my ex-wife Whitney Houston. We were seated by security and then subsequently asked to move on three separate occasions.
“I fail to understand why security treated my family this way and continue to ask us and no one else to move,” he said. “Security then prevented me from attempting to see my daughter Bobbi-Kristina. In light of the events, I gave a kiss to the casket of my ex-wife and departed as I refused to create a scene. My children are completely distraught over the events. This was a day to honor Whitney. I doubt Whitney would have wanted this to occur. I will continue to pay my respects to my ex-wife the best way I know how.”
Read the full story of Whitney Houston’s funeral.
WHITNEY HOUSTON's funeral on Saturday Feb 18, 2012 in Newark, NJ
WHITNEY HOUSTON's funeral on Saturday Feb 18, 2012 in Newark, NJ
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Whitney Houston Funeral: Family And Friends Gather For Houston Goodbye
Bobby Brown Leaves Whitney Houston's Funeral: Seating Dispute Reportedly To Blame
MESFIN FEKADU 02/18/12 04:08 PM ET 
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NEWARK, N.J. — Whitney Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, has briefly appeared at her funeral before leaving.
Brown arrived as the service began. He walked to the casket, touched it and walked to the back of the New Jersey church Saturday.
Brown says in a statement that he and his children were seated but asked repeatedly to move. Brown says he left because he didn't want to create he a scene.
As he left, Brown appeared upset.
Houston died Feb. 11. A cause of death hasn't been determined.
Houston and Brown were married 15 years and have one daughter together. In 2003, police responding to a domestic violence call about Brown found Houston with a cut lip and bruised cheek. Their tumultuous relationship ended in 2007.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
MESFIN FEKADU 02/18/12 04:08 PM ET
React
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NEWARK, N.J. — Whitney Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, has briefly appeared at her funeral before leaving.
Brown arrived as the service began. He walked to the casket, touched it and walked to the back of the New Jersey church Saturday.
Brown says in a statement that he and his children were seated but asked repeatedly to move. Brown says he left because he didn't want to create he a scene.
As he left, Brown appeared upset.
Houston died Feb. 11. A cause of death hasn't been determined.
Houston and Brown were married 15 years and have one daughter together. In 2003, police responding to a domestic violence call about Brown found Houston with a cut lip and bruised cheek. Their tumultuous relationship ended in 2007.
ALSO ON HUFFPOST:
By NEKESA MUMBI MOODY, The Associated Press
NEWARK, N.J. -- The funeral for Whitney Houston is ending at the New Jersey church she attended as a child.
The New Hope Baptist Church in Newark is packed to capacity for the invitation-only service. Houston died Feb. 11 in California the day before the Grammy awards. She was 48.
Stevie Wonder and Alicia Keys are among those who sang at the service. Kevin Costner, Clive Davis and others have spoken. The Rev. Marvin Winans has eulogized Houston.
The funeral ended with Houston's casket being taken out the church as her hit "I Will Always Love You" played. Her mother's sobs could be heard throughout the church, and Houston's daughter is crying too.
Houston is expected to be laid to rest near her father's grave in New Jersey.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
Clapping hands and swaying to gospel hymns in the church where Whitney Houston's powerful voice once wowed her congregation, the biggest names in entertainment sang along with the choir to remember the pop superstar at her hometown funeral Saturday.
"We are here today, hearts broken but yet with God's strength we celebrate the life of Whitney Houston," the Rev. Joe A. Carter told the packed New Hope Baptist Church after the choir behind him sang "The Lord is My Shepherd."
Mourners including singer Jennifer Hudson and Houston's mother, gospel singer Cissy Houston, stood, swayed and clapped along in the aisles as gospel singers BeBe Winans and the Rev. Kim Burrell joined with pop stars like Alicia Keys in paying tribute to the 48-year-old pop superstar who first began singing in the Newark church.
"You wait for a voice like that for a lifetime," said music mogul Clive Davis, who shepherded Houston's career for decades.
Others were more mournful; singer Ray J., who spent time with Houston during her last days, broke down crying. His sister, singer Brandy, put her arm around him. Cissy Houston and Houston's daughter, 18-year-old Bobbi Kristina, clutched each other in the front of the row. Toward the end of the service, Bobbi Kristina and Ray J. embraced at length and spoke. Others gathered near the front of the church and hugged each other.
Actor Kevin Costner, her co-star in "The Bodyguard" that spawned her greatest hit, remembered a movie star who was uncertain of her own fame, who "still wondered, `Am I good enough? Am I pretty enough? Will they like me?'"
"It was the burden that made her great and the part that caused her to stumble in the end," Costner said.
Filmmaker Tyler Perry praised Houston's "grace that kept on carrying her all the way through, the same grace led her all the way to the top of the charts. She sang for presidents."
Stevie Wonder and Oprah Winfrey were among the biggest names gathered to mourn Houston, along with Hudson, Monica, Brandy and Jordin Sparks - representing a generation of big-voiced young singers who grew up emulating her. Houston's voice, a recording of "I Will Always Love You," was to close the funeral.
Houston's cousin Dionne Warwick presided over the funeral, introducing speakers and singers and offering short comments about Houston between them.
Houston's mother was helped by two people on either side of her as she walked in and sat with her granddaughter and other family to begin the service. Houston's ex-husband, Bobby Brown, briefly appeared at her funeral, walking to the casket, touching it and walking out. Security guards said Brown was upset that he would have to sit separately from the people he arrived with, and left. A Brown representative didn't immediately comment.
Mourners fell quiet as three police officers escorted Houston's casket, draped with white roses and purple lilies. White-robed choir members began to fill the pews on the podium. As the band played softly, the choir sang in a hushed voice, "Whitney, Whitney, Whitney."
Close family friend Aretha Franklin, whom Houston lovingly called "Aunt Ree," had been expected to sing at the service, but she was too ill to attend. Franklin said in an email to The Associated Press that she had been up most of the night with leg spasms and sent best wishes to the family. "May God bless and keep them all," she wrote.
A program featuring a picture of Houston looking skyward read "Celebrating the life of Whitney Elizabeth Houston, a child of God." Pictures of Houston as a baby, with her mother and daughter filled the program.
"I never told you that when you were born, the Holy Spirit told me that you would not be with me long," Cissy Houston wrote her daughter in a letter published in the program. "And I thank God for the beautiful flower he allowed me to raise and cherish for 48 years."
"Rest, my baby girl in peace," the letter ends, signed "mommie."
The service marks one week after Houston, one of music's all-time biggest stars, was found dead in a Beverly Hills hotel in California. A cause of death has yet to be determined.
To the world, Houston was the pop queen with the perfect voice, the dazzling diva with regal beauty, a troubled superstar suffering from addiction and, finally, another victim of the dark side of fame.
To her family and friends, she was just "Nippy." A nickname given to Houston when she was a child, it stuck with her through adulthood and, later, would become the name of one of her companies. To them, she was a sister, a friend, a daughter, and a mother.
"She always had the edge," the Rev. Jesse Jackson said outside church Saturday. "You can tell when some kids have what we call a special anointing. Aretha had that when she was 14. ... Whitney cultivated that and took it to a very high level."
A few fans gathered Saturday morning hours before the service as close as they could get to the church, some from as far away as Washington, D.C., and Miami. Bobby Brooks said he came from Washington "just to be among the rest of the fans."
"Just to celebrate her life, not just her death," said Brooks, "just to sing and dance with the people that love her."
Others were more entrepreneurial, setting up card tables to sell silk-screened T-shirts with Houston's image and her CDs. But only the invited would get close to the church; streets were closed to the public for blocks in every direction. But their presence was felt around the church, with a huge shrine of heart-shaped balloons and personal messages that covered the street corner around the church entrance.
Houston's death marked the final chapter for the superstar whose fall from grace while shocking was years in the making. Houston had her first No. 1 hit by the time she was 22, followed by a flurry of No. 1 songs and multi-platinum records.
Over her career, she sold more than 50 million records in the United States alone. Her voice, an ideal blend of power, grace and beauty, made classics out of songs like "Saving All My Love For You," `'I Will Always Love You," `'The Greatest Love of All" and "I'm Every Woman." Her six Grammys were only a fraction of her many awards.
But amid the fame, a turbulent marriage to Brown and her addiction to drugs tarnished her image. She became a woman falling apart in front of the world.
Her last album, "I Look To You," debuted on the top of the charts when it was released in 2009 with strong sales, but didn't have the staying power of her previous records. A tour the next year was doomed by cancellations because of illness and sub-par performances.
Still, a comeback was ahead: She was to star in the remake of the movie "Sparkle" and was working on new music. Her family, friends and hard-core fans were hopeful.
The funeral is for invited guests only. Houston is to be buried next to her father, John Houston, in nearby Westfield, N.J.
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Contributing to this report were Global Entertainment and Lifestyles Editor Alicia Quarles and Mesfin Fekadu.
Images from today's powerful ceremony:
Whitney Houston's Final Movie Sparkle Will STILL Get Released This August!
This may be difficult to watch, but it will be nice to get one last opportunity to see Whitney on the big screen!
Last month, we got a first look at Whitney Houston in her upcoming movie Sparkle (above), and we were pleased to see that she was looking REALLY good. Sigh.
As we mentioned before, the movie is a remake of the 1976 film about a group of singing sisters.
"Part of the fun of making this movie is definitely the costumes and the hairstyles. The movie is set in 1963, and we had a great wardrobe, hair and makeup person and I loved wearing the outfits."
We're so glad she had such a good time making the movie, and we're very happy to hear that Sony Pictures will be releasing Sparkle as planned on August 17th.
Here's what studio spokesman Steve Elzer had to say about it:
"Like all those who knew and loved her, we are shocked and saddened and the world has lost an incomparable talent. Right now our thoughts are with her daughter, her family and her friends."
And more from the movie's executive producer Howard Rosenman:
"This would have been a big, big comeback, she is so brilliant in it. I was just raving about her performance, she was so great in it. I'm just in shock."
We'll be sure to see this one as soon as it comes out. We have a feeling it will be a VERY crowded theater…
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