Prosecutor Considering Investigation Into 'Godfather Of Soul' James Brown's 2006 Death, Which Some Consider Suspicious

More than 10 years after music legend James Brown died, an Atlanta prosecutor is considering whether it will be necessary to launch a probe into the manner of his death.

Fulton County District Attorney Paul Howard met with a woman named Jacque Hollander on Wednesday to hear her claims regarding Brown's death, Chris Hopper, director of public affairs for the DA, confirmed to Oxygen.com. During that meeting, Hollander gave prosecutors a plastic bin filled with what she described as evidence, he said.

Brown died on Christmas day in 2006 at the age of 73 after suffering heart failure, but Hollander has claimed to have evidence that Brown was actually murdered, according to CNN. During Wednesday’s meeting, Hollander — a singer who’d previously tried and failed to get an audience with prosecutors to discuss Brown’s death — provided the DA with a list of other potential witnesses as well as numerous copies of text messages that had been printed out, the outlet reports.

Howard said that his investigators would spend the coming months conducting interviews and examining evidence before deciding whether to open an official investigation into Brown’s death, according to CNN.

There isn't a case currently, but Hopper told Oxygen.com, "The Fulton County District Attorney’s Office is reviewing the information and the items provided by Ms. Hollander to determine if any further steps are necessary."

Brown died in 2006 within days of being admitted to Emory Crawford Long Hospital in Atlanta with pneumonia, NPR reported at the time. After he was admitted on a Sunday, he seemed fine and was well enough to talk about his plans to perform in New York on New Year’s Eve, according to his agent. However, he died of heart failure early that Monday morning.

Others have previously voiced concerns about the manner of Brown’s death. CNN published their investigation into Brown’s death in 2019, which stated that around a dozen people who knew Brown were in favor of either a criminal investigation into his death or an autopsy.

Marvin Crawford, a doctor who treated Brown when he was admitted for pneumonia and who signed his death certificate, told the outlet last year that he doubted that Brown died of natural causes and that he suspected an overdose instead.

Brown’s condition “changed too fast,” he said.

He continued, “He was a patient I would never have predicted would have coded. ... But he died that night, and I did raise that question: What went wrong in that room?”

However, Crawford told TMZ this week that there was no evidence of foul play when he examined Brown after his death. As for his previous quotes to CNN, Crawford claimed, "CNN said I said that but I didn't say that about the drugs."