Whitney Houston's Death Is Now a Coroner's Case, Police Say

Whitney Houston performs at the American Music Awards.

Kevin Winter/AMA2009/Getty Images for DCP

Whitney Houston was unconscious and unresponsive when she was treated by first responders in her suite at the Beverly Hilton on Saturday, Detective Mark Rosen of the Beverly Hills Police Department told reporters earlier this afternoon. The singer was found in her bathtub by a member of her staff at approximately 3:30 p.m. and was pronounced dead at 3:55 p.m. after an attempt to resuscitate her.

Rosen explained that a death investigation is still open but clarified that it was not a criminal investigation. Nevertheless, Rosen made it clear that the BHPD has not ruled out any explanations for the singer's death. He could not comment on the condition of Houston's body or her hotel room at the time she was discovered and could not offer specific information about what was found in her room.

According to Rosen, the investigation at the hotel has been completed, and it is now "a coroner's case" as they await results for toxicology tests. "We don't know the cause of death," he told reporters. "We're waiting for the coroner's office to determine the cause of death."

CNN reports that Houston's body will soon be transported to her native New Jersey, where a funeral service will be held on either Friday or Saturday.

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Song Stories

“All Along the Watchtower”

The Jimi Hendrix Experience | 1968

Jimi Hendrix got hold of Bob Dylan's early John Wesley Harding tapes and in late 1967 recorded a version of "All Along the Watchtower" with the Experience in London. Dissatisfied with that first development, Hendrix brought those tapes with him to New York in early 1968 when he began work on Electric Ladyland. Eddie Kramer, Hendrix's engineer at the time, told Rolling Stone that Hendrix "was still looked upon by his basically white audience as the mammoth black guitar hero. There was a constant fight within him to expand himself." Hendrix's successful take on Dylan's work has long been recognized by the songwriter. "I liked Jimi Hendrix's record of this and ever since he died I've been doing it that way," Dylan wrote in the liner notes to his Biograph box set. "Strange how when I sing it, I always feel it's a tribute to him in some kind of way."

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