Several news outlets are reporting a surprising twist in the Gary Coleman tragedy–his wife, Shannon Price, might not have had the right to remove Coleman from life support. In fact, Entertainment Tonight has obtained court papers confirming that the actor was divorced from Price at the time of his death. Coleman,42, was taken off life support on Friday with Price’s permission.
Coleman’s former lawyer Randy Kester is also speaking out, telling PEOPLE, “I can confirm they’ve been divorced since August 12, 2008. At the time of Gary’s death, they were not married. I have no knowledge if they were ever remarried.” His lawyer went on to say, “Gary wanted me to keep their divorce private but now that it’s been made public, I’m compelled to say it’s all true.”
Eariler in the day, Kester told UsMagazine, “Some people have raised the issue that they saw Gary and Shannon on ‘Divorce Court’ and now there’s some questions about whether or not they were married at the time of the death and whether [Shannon] had the authority to pull the plug at the hospital.” In 2008, Coleman and Price went on ‘Divorce Court’ in an effort to solve some marital issues.
Kester went on to say, “Some people in the public are raising issues whether she had authority to do that and if she has authority to be making funeral arrangements, and exactly where she fits into his estate.”
“I think there’s going to be some developing controversy about some issues of authority,” he concluded.
When reached for comment by PEOPLE, Janet Frank, spokeswoman for the Utah Valley Regional Medical Center where Coleman was treated said, “Shannon certainly portrayed herself as his wife to our staff and doctors. We assumed she was telling the truth. We can’t comment on specific details in Mr. Coleman’s case, but in general, any patient on life support is thoroughly evaluated medically before life support is ended.”
“We’re definitely concerned about this and we’re looking into what exactly happened here,” Frank continued.
This controversial news comes hours after details from the Coleman 911 tape was released to the press. On the tape, Price seems reluctant to help the actor stating she didn’t “want to be traumatized right now” since she had a fever.
