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Prince's death, Day 9: L.A. tribute planned


Real-time updates on the latest news in the investigation into his death and tributes.

7:07 p.m. ET: A public memorial tribute for Prince has been planned in Los Angeles for May 6, city hall organizers announced on Facebook Friday. "Our very own City Hall was the prime location for the Diamonds and Pearls video," read the message. "The City of Los Angeles is proud to have been the home away from home for a tremendous talent that touched our city." The event, to be held at the Los Angeles City Hall, is free to the public and will start at 5 p.m.

4:45 p.m. ET: A report on the number of emergency-service calls — more than 40 — to Prince's home in recent years has caused a media ruckus about whether the investigation into the Prince's sudden death last week is now officially a criminal probe.

But not so fast, says Carver County Sheriff's Chief Deputy Jason Kamerud, who is leading the investigation and Wednesday released a brief report on 47 service and emergency calls to Paisley Park in five years. Some of them were to deal with mentally disturbed fans or were the result of prank "swatting" calls.

But four of the 911 calls to Paisley Park were for medical emergencies, including the last one on April 21 when Prince was found dead in an elevator. Investigators declined to talk much publicly about what happened that day, and the details of that call in the report were heavily redacted.

Kamerud said Minnesota law allows him to withhold some information in otherwise public documents in case they turn out to be "criminal investigative data" in a future probe.

The Associated Press has reported that prescription painkillers were found in Prince's possession and in his home and that investigators are looking into whether they played a role in Prince's death and who prescribed such medications to him. Investigators conducted a search of Paisley Park this week but the warrant and accompanying documentation was sealed from public view in order to protect the investigation.

Kamerud declined to comment on the drugs aspect of the investigation and pushed back against the claim that local investigators have called in the Drug Enforcement Agency to help. He advised the media and Prince fans to be patient; the final results of the investigation and the autopsy could be weeks away.

"It's entirely possible that after a thorough investigation, when all is said and done, there may not be criminal charges," Kamerud said. "So, pump the brakes, let us conduct the investigation and at the end you'll have access to all of it.

"Meanwhile, we will not be rushed. Our focus is on doing it properly and getting it right — not quickly."

4:30 p.m. ET: Alfred Jackson, one of Prince's half-brothers and one of his potential heirs, "taught him everything he ever knew," joked his attorney, Frank Wheaton, a Los Angeles-based sports lawyer called in to represent Jackson soon after Prince died to "ensure he had a seat at the table" when Prince's estate is divvied up.

Jackson, 62, Prince's older half-brother through his mother, had been in touch with his half-sibling only sporadically in recent years but had an "excellent" relationship with him, Wheaton says. Jackson has been living in St. Cloud, Minn., and most recently in Kansas City, but is in Carver County now for a meeting with Tyka Nelson, Prince's full sister, and for a tour of sprawling Paisley Park on Wednesday, and to prepare for a first probate hearing about Prince's estate on Monday.

But Jackson is keeping mum about the reports and rumors swirling around in the aftermath of Prince's death: What happened at the meeting with Nelson (lots of tension, reported TMZ)? What does he know about whether prescription drugs might have played a role in Prince's death? Are there more half-siblings and could they or their heirs benefit from Prince's estate (The Daily Mail says it found a 13-year-old great-niece not previously mentioned)?

To all these questions and others, Wheaton says Jackson has the same response: No comment.

"We are not responding to media inquiries," Wheaton said. "We will respect the proper authorities and their analysis and/or findings as it relates to the autopsy and thereafter, so we will not bow to speculation or conjecture."

By the way, he said, Paisley Park has "quite a bit to behold" but he can't talk about specific contents.

2:12 p.m. ET: While the public waits to see whether Prince’s Paisley Park compound is turned into a tribute museum, fans of the legendary singer will soon be able to place their bids for an iconic keepsake. According to The Associated Press, the signature black-and-white motorcycle jacket Prince wore in the 1984 film, Purple Rain, will be auctioned on June 29 by Profiles in History, a California-based auction house. Profiles in History publicist Jeff Hare confirmed the auction news to USA TODAY. Joe Maddalena, the president of Profiles in History, told The Associated Press that the original seller obtained the jacket after her sister, a makeup artist, received it as a gift for her work on the Purple Rain set. Maddalena heralded the jacket as "the most important piece of screen-worn Prince clothing that's ever come up for auction" and shared that the asking price ranges from $6,000 to $8,000, though it’s expected to sell for a significantly higher figure.

8:32 a.m. ET: Bad news for Prince fans who want to explore Paisley Park, the studio/residence where the music icon lived and worked. The fact that he did not leave a will lessens the chances of it becoming a Graceland-type museum. Had he done so, he might have saved his heirs from a substantial tax burden,  Jeffrey Eisen, a trusts-and-estates lawyer, tells USA TODAY. "Even if they create a non-profit charity (such as a museum), it won’t help the heirs in this tax bill they're facing. You only get deductions if you have a will or a trust."

Meanwhile, a representative for Sheila E., Prince's former protégée and fiancée, told People Thursday that singer/drummer has offered her assistance to his family in the interest of protecting his estate and legacy, explaining that she is "concerned that [Prince's death] will result in exploitation for profit by people who may have been seeking personal financial gain from him while living and may now see the opportunity to do so in his untimely death."

8:23 a.m. ET: A law enforcement official told The Associated Press on Thursday that investigators are looking into whether Prince died from an overdose and whether a doctor was prescribing him drugs in the weeks before he was found dead at his home in suburban Minneapolis. This contradicts the Carver County, Minn., Sheriff's Department official line; that same day, they were pushing back against rumors that the case is now focusing on drugs after multiple outlets reported that painkillers were found on Prince at the time of his death.