It’s been nearly two years since pop music icon Prince passed away, and now his family members are considering filing a wrongful death lawsuit.
The Purple Rain singer died on April 16, 2016, at 57 years old in his Paisley Park mansion in Minneapolis. The Midwest Medical Examiner’s Office determined on June 2 that his death was caused by an accidental fentanyl overdose.
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However, according to The Wrap, the singer’s trustees made up of his remaining siblings filed a legal motion on Tuesday to investigate his death, “so that they can determine whether to commence a wrongful death action.”
The Carver County Office, however, denied the family’s request for investigative information. They’re now reportedly looking to file an order to release the information.
The legal papers obtained by the website say the County officials denied their request because the information is confidential and that “the release of information being sought from the medical examiner in particular might impede the ongoing investigation into the singer’s death.” The County also stated they “will not disclose the data to anyone, absent a court order.”
“(We) respectfully ask this Court to order the Carver County Sheriff’s Office, Medical Examiner’s Office and the County Attorney to produce all investigative data in their possessions related to the death of Mr. Nelson,” the trustees wrote in response, referring to Prince by his real last name.
Prince was at the center of discussion this past weekend when rumors began leaking out that Justin Timberlake planned to use a hologram of the singer in front of his hometown Minneapolis crowd during Timberlake’ halftime performance at Super Bowl LII. Both Prince’s brother and ex-fiance spoke out against using a hologram, but the family changed their tune when Timberlake instead used a large drape to project an image of Prince from a previous performance while he sang a cover of “I Would Die 4 U.”
One of the halftime show’s producers made a statement on Wednesday that there was never a plan to use a hologram, similar to the ones used in concerts to recreate famous deceased singers like Michael Jackson and Tupac Shakur.
There was never an idea to have a hologram,” Ricky Kirshner said. “I can’t speculate as to what someone saw, but I do know that all of our people are not authorized to talk to the press so whoever was there and saw something they shouldn’t have seen shouldn’t have been there to begin with.”
