Paternity Test – Godfather of Soul in Grave Dispute
The body of soul legend James Brown was exhumed in a dispute over his legacy while Brown's lawyer demanded a Paternity Test.
Paternity test - paternity claims
Tomi Rae Hynie, the woman who claims to be Brown’s widow and the mother of his youngest child is contesting claims made by some of the singer’s other children who were born from other relationships.
Ms Hynie also claims that Brown's body, already buried after a public funeral, was later exhumed, and thinks this may have been so that a paternity test could be performed.
Charles Reid, of the C A Reid Funeral Home in Georgia, says that the body, which was put on display for Brown's fans, is in a special sealed coffin at Brown’s Georgia home.
Paternity test - who's the father?
Ms Hynie says that she bears the surname Brown because she was legally married to the singer after being hired by him as a backing singer several years ago. The couple have a five-year-old son, also named James.
However, when Hynie married Brown she was already married to a Pakistani immigrant seeking US citizenship, a marriage which was later declared void, but this casts some doubt on her alleged relationship with Brown. After the couple rowed publically on an aircraft in July 2003, Brown took out a full-page advertisement in Variety announcing their break-up, but Ms Hynie insists they continued living together.
Paternity test - disowned by family
She claims that two of Brown’s three daughters, Deanna and Yamma, stopped her from speaking at the funeral service and that they have deliberately excluded her from the family.
Lawyer demands a paternity test
Brown’s lawyer is demanding a DNA paternity test on Ms Hynie’s son, James. Ms Hynie has agreed to the paternity test but has suggested that the other children should also each undergo a paternity test.
Paternity test - buried at last
It now falls to the trustees of Brown's estate, along with Brown’s children, to determine where the singer will be buried, but a paternity test can at least solve the remaining mysteries that have surrounded his legacy. |
