According to a recent court filing, the overdose happened on Thursday, June 12, and was allegedly caused by medication provided to him by prison staff.
The document outlines that Kelly, known for his hit “Ignition (Remix),” usually takes prescribed medication for anxiety and sleep. However, on this particular day, his lawyers claim that the dosage given was far higher than what he normally takes, which led to the medical emergency.
The Bureau of Prisons has declined to comment on the situation, citing ‘pending litigation’ as the reason for withholding information.
“Federal officers have solicited the murder of R. Kelly because he intends to expose the corruption underlying his federal prosecutions. We have filed our motion to make sure that they fail.” his lawyer, Beau B Brindley, said in a statement released on Wednesday.
Back in 2019, R Kelly was arrested on a long list of charges, including federal racketeering and sex trafficking, which stemmed from years of abuse allegations.
Now 57, the disgraced singer and producer is currently serving a 30-year prison sentence tied to those convictions. On top of that, in 2023, he received another one-year sentence related to child pornography and charges of enticing a minor.
The two-part documentary features Buku Abi—whose birth name is Joann Kelly alleging that she was sexually abused by her father when she was only eight or nine years old.
“He was my everything. For a long time, I didn’t even want to believe that it happened. I didn’t know that even if he was a bad person that he would do something to me.” she says in the film. “I was too scared to tell anybody. I was too scared to tell my mom.”
She eventually opened up to her mom, Andrea, in 2009 when she was just 10 years old. That moment marked the beginning of her speaking out about the trauma she had endured.