A love triangle exploded into rage and violence in the early morning hours before WHITNEY HOUSTON’s troubled daughter was found submerged face down in the bathtub, The National ENQUIRER has learned in a bombshell world exclusive interview!
“It’s scary no arrest has been made,” close pal and neighbor Debra Reis Brooks said four months after 22-year-old’s Bobbi Kristina Brown’s horrific Jan. 31 medical emergency.
Debra, 56, claimed the troubled young woman’s hot-tempered boyfriend, Nick Gordon, flew into a jealous rage over a possible sex romp “Krissi” had that night with a male friend!
Debra said after Bobbi Kristina was found unconscious in a water-filled bathtub at her townhouse in the Atlanta suburb of Roswell, Ga., Nick, 25 – along with his friend Max Lomas, 25, and Max’s girlfriend, Danyela Bradley, 18 – spent time in her home.
“Things occurred in my house I wish I didn’t see or hear,” Debra said, adding that she’s working with police as part of the ongoing criminal investigation.
Debra added she may have overheard incriminating statements between Nick and Max.
According to the woman, Bobbi Kristina and Nick “had a fight at 12:30 a.m.,” and then “Nick and Max left and went out – that’s supposedly when this other guy came over to Krissi’s,” she said.
Debra added: “There was some discussion of some guy who came over and [he and Bobbi Kristina] fooled around – that’s what Nick said!”
While Debra did not identify the man by name, The ENQUIRER learned he’s likely Duane Tyrone Hall, 24.
Bobbi Kristina posted a solo selfie of herself around 3 a.m., and then another of herself with Duane – about six hours before her unconscious body was discovered.
Duane was initially identified in press reports as “Edwin Demarco.”
Another source told The ENQUIRER: “If Nick caught Bobbi Kristina in bed with a guy, it would certainly make sense that a violent confrontation between him and Whitney’s troubled daughter would have occurred!”
When The ENQUIRER attempted to reach Duane to ask him about Debra’s comments, his mother, Murline, 57, said her son was “out of town” and unavailable for comment.
When asked if she was aware of a sexual relationship between Bobbi Kristina and her son, Murline replied: “I don’t know anything about that so I can’t help you there.”
Duane has a sordid drug past. He and Nick were seen together just days after Bobbi Kristina’s accident when cops pulled Nick over on Feb. 2 for a lane violation.
Police found a small amount of marijuana residue in the center console of Nick’s car, but no charges were filed.
Duane was also cited in a Jan. 14 police report when cops arrested Max for possession of marijuana and distribution of drugs at a Roswell motel. Duane was present, along with Max’s girlfriend, Danyela.
Debra, meanwhile, told The ENQUIRER the calm of her quiet gated townhouse community was shattered minutes after Max called 911 for help from Bobbi Kristina’s home at 10:23 a.m. on that fateful last Saturday of January.
She saw a commotion and ran outside, asking Nick and Max what was wrong.
Debra told The ENQUIRER: “Nick was so out of control and the police came up to me and said, ‘Would you take him in?’ because they wanted to bring [Bobbi Kristina] out in a stretcher and didn’t want him to see her.”
Nick, she said, was panic-stricken and noted that he reeked of alcohol and still seemed drunk.
Debra recalled that he vomited several times in her home. Max, an accused drug dealer, seemed more concerned about getting tossed in jail during the hectic aftermath.
She said: “Max was very scared and he kept saying, ‘I can’t get arrested.’ He was very worried. [He said] ‘this is going to get pinned on me. I didn’t do it. I found her. I just got her out.’”
At some point, Debra said: “Max and [Nick] then go in the corner to talk, police would talk to them, then they’d go to the corner.”
At first, Debra thought Bobbi Kristina, who suffers from seizures, may have slipped and knocked herself unconscious.
“As I’m observing things and words, I started to think, ‘Wait a minute, I still didn’t get it, ” said Debra, who was called “Mama Deb” by Bobbi Kristina.
As her suspicion grew, she recalled Bobbi Kristina had stopped bathing in a tub – still traumatized by the February 2012 accidental drowning death of her mother, Whitney, at the Beverly Hilton.
“I didn’t think foul play, but thinking how Krissi got in that tub. It didn’t make sense,” Debra told The ENQUIRER. “Krissi never took a bath, ever ever! She was deathly afraid of bathtubs. No way Krissi would have drawn a bath, no way.”
When asked for comment about Debra’s allegations in this story, a lawyer for Bobbi Kristina’s father, Bobby Brown, called it “false and defamatory,” but Debra believes Nick’s drug and booze fueled violent temper as possibly playing a role in Bobbi Kristina’s death.
“He would lose his temper. He had a temper and a very, very serious temper …He was very physical with her,” Debra told The ENQUIRER.
A week before the tragedy, police were called to Bobbi Kristina’s home on Jan. 23 over a reported fight. But when cops arrived, no one was home.
In addition, Danyela’s mother, Marlene Bradley, 50, told The ENQUIRER in an exclusive interview in March her 18-year-old daughter told her she also didn’t think the drowning was an accident.
“Danyela heard Nick screaming and yelling,” shortly before Bobbi Kristina was discovered in the tub, Marlene told The ENQUIRER.
“Nick was the last person to see [Bobbi Kristina] alive.” After the tragedy, Nick appeared a blubbering mess on the “Dr. Phil” show. He was later admitted to rehab. Bobbi Kristina remains in a coma in an Atlanta medical facility and has not regained consciousness since the incident.
Her distraught grandmother, Cissy Houston, recently said her health has not “progressed” and she suffers from “irreversible brain damage.”
Debra told The ENQUIRER she now regrets not taking some kind of action in the days before the tragedy.
“It haunts me,” Debra said. “Damn it, why didn’t I knock on their door? I wanted to help her and save her.”
