ATLANTA (AP) — The investigation of a woman accused of posing as a nurse and giving hospice care to Bobbi Kristina Brown widened Wednesday as police sought more information about other patients she may have treated.
The arrest of Taiwo Sobamowo, 32, was the latest offshoot following the death of the only child of singers Bobby Brown and the late Whitney Houston. The 22-year-old Brown died July 26 in suburban Duluth, six months after she was found face-down and unresponsive in the bathtub of her townhome in January.
Duluth police Capt. Mark Hunter said investigators want to hear from patients or friends and relatives of people treated by Sobamowo, who authorities say impersonated a licensed nurse with a similar name.
“In the capacity that she was operating, the patients that she treated, there are more than just Bobbi Kristina,” Hunter said. Her actions could warrant more charges, he said.
Police aren’t certain how many other patients she treated. She had also worked at an assisted-living facility in a nearby county, police said. It’s not clear exactly when or how long she worked at both places.
There’s also no indication in a police report obtained by The Associated Press on Tuesday that Brown’s care was affected by Sobamowo, the nurse in charge of caring for Brown at Peachtree Christian Hospice in Duluth.
Police in Roswell, where Brown was found unconscious, have been investigating the circumstances surrounding her death.
In September, the county medical examiner said the cause has been determined, but the autopsy results would not be publicly revealed because of a court order to seal the results. Over the last year, lawyers have traded accusations about what caused Brown’s death and tabloids have covered every development.
In a statement, Homestead Hospice CEO Mallie Sharafat said the company performed a background check on Sobamowo and reviewed references from other health care agencies in the area.
“We had no reason to believe that she was anything other than a good nurse with proper credentials,” Sharafat wrote.
The company said when it found the credentialing discrepancy it immediately took action and notified authorities.
An alert published by the Georgia Board of Nursing following Sobamowo’s arrest said she was fired Aug. 5 when she couldn’t provide proof of a license.
Sobamowo was arrested Sunday in Raleigh, North Carolina, and was being held in a jail there. The jail had no record of an attorney representing her.
The criminal investigation of Sobamowo started in Forsyth County, where she worked in the assisted-living facility. On Oct. 27, a detective there contacted Duluth police “in reference to a high-profile case” that the city had some jurisdiction over, Duluth police wrote in their report.
Authorities said Sobamowo’s employment records indicated she attended a medical college in the nation’s capital, but they couldn’t find any evidence of that.
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Associated Press writer Emery Dalesio in Raleigh, North Carolina, contributed to this report.
