DNA tests confirm 2 more of James Brown's offspring

COLUMBIA, S.C. — DNA testing on about a dozen people who claim James Brown was their father has found at least two are telling the truth, a longtime adviser to the late soul singer said.

Several tests have come back negative, while others are pending, said Buddy Dallas, who did not have exact numbers Friday night.

Dallas refused to identify the two people whose DNA showed they were Brown's children, but The Augusta Chronicle reported that LaRhonda Petitt, 45, a retired flight attendant and teacher in Houston, showed the newspaper a report that says there is a 99.99 percent probability she is Brown's daughter.

She would be the oldest of Brown's children.

Brown picked out Petitt's mother from the crowd at a show in Los Angeles in the early 1960s, and she became the singer's girlfriend, sometimes ironing his shirts before his shows, Petitt said.

But when her mother became pregnant, she split with Brown and moved back to Houston. She would point to the television when Brown was performing and tell her daughter the singer was her father, Petitt told the newspaper.

Petitt said she met Brown at concerts and spoke to him over the phone, but he never acknowledged being her father.

Brown, 73, died Dec. 25 of heart failure. His body was entombed in a crypt at the home of one of his daughters in March. Brown's will, which is being disputed in court, names six children.

One possible child of Brown's who hasn't had a DNA test is James Brown II, 6, the son of Tomi Rae Hynie. Hynie said she is the singer's fourth wife. But Brown's attorneys continue to dispute that claim.