Colorado prison inmate claims to be son of Prince in heirship filing

CHASKA, Minn. (KMSP) - A 39-year-old man from Kansas City, Missouri who is currently serving a prison sentence in Colorado is the first person to file a paternity claim against Prince’s estate. An affidavit of heirship was filed in Carver County, Minnesota probate court on Monday, May 9 by Carlin Q. Williams.

Williams is requesting a DNA test and believes he “may be the sole surviving legal heir” to Prince’s estate. Bremer Trust has been appointed special administrator of Prince’s estate, and must determine the list of potential heirs to the estate. That list currently includes Prince’s sister, Tyka Nelson, and 5 half-siblings. A living child would trump any siblings in a claim to the estate.

A signed affidavit from Williams’ mother, Marsha Henson, claims that she and Prince had unprotected sex at the Midwest Hotel in Kansas City in July 1976. Henson claims, “I conceived Prince’s son Carlin Q. Williams that day.” Prince would have been 18 at the time. Henson claims she did not have sex with anyone else 6 weeks before that date, and that she didn’t have sex with anyone else until giving birth on April 8, 1977.

Carlin Williams is an inmate at the maximum security federal prison in Florence, Colorado. He pleaded guilty in 2013 to unlawfully transporting a firearm and was sentenced to 7 years and 8 months.

On Friday, May 6, Carver County Judge Kevin Eide granted a request made by Bremer Trust to hire the DNA Diagnostics Center to analyze Prince’s blood. The judge has also set a deadline for filing claims to the late singer’s estate. Those who wish to have a piece of the estate must now file their claims by Sept. 6.

Prince Rogers Nelson, 57, died Thursday, April 21 at his home at Paisley Park. He was last seen alive at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, April 20. He did not respond to calls Thursday morning, which prompted his friends and staff to call in a welfare check around 9:30 a.m. on April 21. Prince was found unresponsive in an elevator at Paisley Park, according to the Carver County sheriff’s office. Deputies attempted CPR but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful.

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