Goldie Taylor—DNA Test Shows Prince’s ‘Only Son’ Isn’t Related to Him After All
A Colorado inmate who claimed to be Prince’s only son had his claim debunked by a DNA test. And there’s already another would-be heir waiting to test their claim.
Photo Illustration by The Daily Beast
An aspiring rapper and gun-running felon, who claimed he was Prince’s biological son, has been shut down—by a DNA test.
Carline Q. Williams made headlines in the wake of the music icon’s death, telling the estate that he was conceived during a one-night stand between his mother and Prince in July of 1976. Williams, who is doing time at a supermax prison in Florence, Colorado, asked for a DNA comparison. In court documents, his mother Marsha Henson said she met the then up and coming star in a hotel lobby in Kansas City, Missouri.
“All we’re asking is the truth in this matter. It’s an unfortunate circumstance,” Williams’s attorney, Patrick Cousins, told the Associated Press at the time. A representative for Cousins, who had previously done legal work for Prince, said he initially “blew off” Williams some years ago.
The paternity claims were largely met with skepticism and, according to TMZ, the test returned a 0.0 percent chance of any biological connection.
With millions at stake, Williams—who has a long rap sheet that includes violence against women, was one of several people who say the Purple Rain superstar was their father. Under Minnesota law, in absence of a will, the discovery of a biological child would end all other rights to the estate—including Prince’s surviving siblings. A woman named Taz Walker has come forward, demanding to be tested.
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The status of Walker’s claim is unknown, but the judge in the case sided with estate attorneys and ruled that anyone making a paternity claim must pay the cost of biological testing. Prince’s DNA was preserved.
Tyka Nelson, Prince’s sister, filed an emergency petition to appoint a special administrator to oversee the estate, which is said be worth an estimated $300 million. She has maintained that Prince had no living children at the time of his death.
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