NEW YORK: A man serving time in federal prison
in Colorado has come forward claiming he is the biological son and
legal heir of the late pop star Prince, marking the first paternity
claim filed in court since the recording artist's death last month.
Lawyers for Carlin Q. Williams, 39, filed a
petition in Carver County District Court near Minneapolis on Monday
objecting to probate of the estate left by Prince, who according to the
performer's sister, Tyka Nelson, left behind no will and no surviving
offspring.
The petition seeks a hearing and a court order for genetic testing of DNA samples obtained from the late music star.
The petition was accompanied by a sworn
affidavit filed by a Missouri woman, Marsha J. Henson, who claims she is
Williams' mother and he was sired by Prince during a tryst she had with
the singer in a Kansas City hotel room in July 1976.
Henson states she had not had sex with anyone
six weeks before she slept with Prince, nor with anyone else before she
gave birth to Williams nine months later.
Williams was sentenced in May 2014 to 7-1/2
years in prison after pleading guilty to illegal possession of a firearm
as a felon, federal court records show.
According to a sentencing memorandum filed by
his attorneys in that case, Williams previously was twice convicted on
drug charges and for resisting arrest.
The memorandum states he had "limited
guidance" as a child, and was primarily raised by his grandmother. It
also says Williams had seven half siblings, none of whom share a father
with him, adding, "His father had no presence at all in his life," but
the document does not identify him.
Williams' paternity petition, which makes no
mention of his criminal record, says he "claims to be a legal heir" of
Prince, and goes on to state his belief that "he is or may be the sole
surviving legal heir."
Questions about Prince's estate have loomed
since his unexpected death last month at age 57. The value of his music
catalogue - potential licensing fees, royalties and sales from more than
30 albums he produced - has been estimated at more than US$500 million.
And that does not include an extensive cache
of unreleased recordings he was said to have locked away in a vault at
his Paisley Park home studio complex in Minnesota where he died.
A judge last week authorised the estate
administrator, Bremer Trust, to obtain a sample of Prince's blood from
the coroner for genetic analysis as necessary.
Williams' lawyers did not immediately respond
to a request for comment. But one of them, Patrick Cousins, told USA
Today that Williams' status as a prison inmate should not affect his
claim.
"If you're an heir, you’re an heir, wherever
you are," he was quoted as saying, adding that he expects arrangements
to be made for DNA testing.
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