Print

Email story

Comment

Email editor

Smith lost memory of son's sudden death, lawyer says

Authorities in the Bahamas are calling the death suspicious and say an inquest could lead to charges.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published September 14, 2006

NASSAU, Bahamas - Anna Nicole Smith frantically tried to revive her son and had to be sedated after he died, her attorney said Wednesday. Authorities termed the death "suspicious" and said criminal charges could be filed.

"The devastation and grief over Daniel's sudden death coupled with the sedation has been so extreme that Anna Nicole experienced memory loss of the event," attorney Michael Scott said.

The chief inspector of the Bahamas coroner's office on Wednesday called the death of 20-year-old Daniel Wayne Smith "suspicious," and a formal inquest that could lead to criminal charges was scheduled for next month.

Smith died Sunday while visiting his mother, a reality TV star and former Playboy playmate, in her hospital room three days after she gave birth to a baby girl. The identity of the newborn girl's father has not been publicly disclosed.

Police on Wednesday revealed that a third person was in the hospital room at the time of the death.

But Scott said that the third person was another of Anna Nicole Smith's attorneys, Howard K. Stern.

He said Anna Nicole Smith and Stern continued efforts to revive Smith even after he had been proclaimed dead by staffers at Doctors Hospital in Nassau, Scott said.

"Anna Nicole was so distraught at the loss of Daniel that she refused to leave his side, and it was necessary to sedate her in order to check her out of the hospital," Scott read from a prepared statement.

He said that she suffered memory loss and that it "was necessary for Howard to tell Anna again that Daniel had passed away."

Authorities said they believe they know what killed Smith, but they were waiting for a toxicology report to confirm the findings.

The autopsy and toxicology reports will not be released until the inquest is held, to avoid prejudicing the jury, coroner Linda P. Virgill said. The jury inquest, which will be open to the public, is scheduled to start Oct. 23, and Anna Nicole Smith will be required to attend, Virgill said. If the inquest in Nassau determines a crime was committed, the case would be sent to the attorney general's office.

Virgill said there was no sign of physical injury to Smith, who was seen helping make his 38-year-old mother comfortable before he died. Anna Nicole Smith noticed him slumped in a chair Sunday and called for help. Hospital staffers tried CPR and other measures to revive him.

Scott dismissed media reports that Daniel Smith had antidepressants or other drugs in his system.

"It's sheer speculation. It's irresponsible speculation, may I point out," he said.

Reginald Ferguson, assistant commissioner of the Royal Bahamian Police Force, said no drug paraphernalia or traces of illegal drugs were found on Daniel Smith, in the hospital room or near the room.

Police think Daniel Smith went directly to Doctors Hospital in Nassau after arriving in the Bahamas by plane, Ferguson said.

Smith was the son of Anna Nicole and Bill Smith, who married in 1985 and divorced two years later. The couple met while working together at Jim's Krispy Fried Chicken in Mexia, Texas. The son had small roles in her movies Skyscraper and To the Limit. He also appeared on the E! reality series The Anna Nicole Show.

Anna Nicole Smith married Texas oil tycoon J. Howard Marshall II in 1994, when she was 26 and he was 89. He died the following year, and she has been fighting over her entitlement to his estate since.

Anna Nicole Smith was in seclusion in the Bahamas with family and friends, attorney Scott said.

[Last modified September 14, 2006, 01:07:22]