Aaliyah’s Family Drama: Uncle Blames Cousin For Her Death

Singer Aaliyah (1979 – 2001) attends the premiere of ‘Planet of the Apes’ at the Ziegfeld Theatre in New York, 2001. (Photo by Steve Eichner/Getty Images)

More than 20 years later, fans are still mourning the loss of singer Aaliyah. Recently the singer's uncle came and blamed her cousin for her death.

According to TMZ, father and son Jomo Hankerson and Barry Hankerson are back in court, fighting as Jomo accuses Barry of owing him money from music assets. Court documents say, Barry claims Jomo “failed in his responsibility” to take care of her travel plans, referring to the private plane booked for her flight to the Bahamas for the 'Rock the Boat' music video.

Jomo is accused of messing up those initial travel plans. Barry said the crash “may have been avoided had [Jomo] followed through on his compensated task of travel coordination."

Jomo claims his dad breached a settlement over music rights specifically, recording masters and music publishing copyrights for Aaliyah, Toni Braxton, DMX, and Timbaland. He also claims he is owed 12% of the money Barry made from the music assets per a settlement deal. Jomo is seeking over $1.2 million in damages.