Sean Smith - Kim Kardashian

Kim was 13 when she started dating T. J. Jackson, the youngest son of Tito Jackson. The initials stand for Tito Joe, after his father and grandfather. They had met first of all at the Buckley School, but kept bumping into each other at parties. He was two years older than Kim, but she was a precocious young teenager.

T. J.’s father was the third oldest of the 10 Jackson children. When he was 18, he married Delores ‘Dee Dee’ Martes. She had been born in New York City to Dominican parents, but as a girl moved to LA, where she met Tito at Fairfax High School in West Hollywood. They married at the height of the Jackson 5 success in 1972 and had three sons, Taj, Taryll and T. J.

Despite the family’s enormous wealth and fame, Dee Dee was determined that her three sons would have a normal childhood. Tito observed, ‘She saw what the Jacksons had to endure to be successful.’ All three boys attended the Buckley School, where they excelled more in sports than music. They were good looking and well liked. Their mother adored her sons, whom she called the three Ts. Even after their parents divorced in 1993, the family remained close. Despite their regular upbringing, the boys couldn’t wait to follow in their famous family’s footsteps.

Their Uncle Michael doted on his three nephews and was a frequent visitor, acting almost as a third parent and giving them advice about enjoying the best years of their lives. They witnessed him being besieged by fans after one concert. He turned to the boys and said, ‘Are you sure you want to do this?’ Of course they were. They called themselves, naturally enough, 3T and set about recording their debut album with their father as their manager. T. J. had just turned 16. It was very exciting for Kim to have a boyfriend who was going to be a pop star.

On 27 August 1994, the brothers received an early morning call from the daughter of their mother’s new boyfriend, telling them she had been in an accident. They were about to head off to the studio, but instead they rushed to the hospital in Inglewood, where she had been taken, to discover that she was already dead. Dee Dee was 39.

Initially, it was assumed the death was accidental. The boyfriend, a businessman called Donald Bohana, told police that they had been swimming that night at his house in Ladera Heights. He had popped inside briefly and when he returned Dee Dee was at the bottom of the pool. Her sons were suspicious of this explanation, as they were well aware that their mother couldn’t swim and would never go near water.

Their misgivings proved entirely correct, when a coroner’s report found that the numerous cuts, scratches and bruises on her body suggested ‘blunt force traumatic injuries’ and a non-accidental ‘assisted drowning’. The Jackson family, unhappy with the lack of action from the district attorney’s office, filed a wrongful death lawsuit against Bohana a year after the dreadful news.

The suit detailed 58 injuries Dee Dee had suffered, including fingernail gouges to her breasts. Tito explained, ‘It’s plain to see that it was more than a simple drowning. My sons came to me and said, “Dad, don’t let him get away with this.”’ The action speculated that there had been a row over money, in which Dee Dee had refused to help Bohana, who had massive debts and had filed for bankruptcy.

The lawsuit alleged that Bohana assaulted Jackson over a four-hour period and killed her by holding her head under water in the swimming pool. He then dialled 911 and told an emergency operator that someone had fallen into his pool.

The Jacksons would have to wait until 1997 for the case to come to criminal trial in the Los Angeles Superior Court. Bohana was found guilty of second-degree murder and sentenced to 15 years to life in prison. Tito added, ‘She was just a well-caring mother, and these kids were actually robbed of something that nothing can bring back.’

For her part, Kim was a 13-year-old trying to cope with a grieving boyfriend and a father desperately trying to help Uncle O. J., who would soon be standing trial for the murder of one of her mother’s best friends, Auntie Nicole. It was a grim welcome to an adult world.

Dee Dee’s tragedy brought T. J. and Kim closer together. He was polite, respectful and softly spoken. Her parents liked him very much, although her father warned her about the perils of interracial dating, even in a place as broad-minded as Beverly Hills: ‘He explained to me that he’s had a lot of interracial friends, and it might not be the easiest relationship. He said I should prepare myself for people to say things to me.’

One of the perks of dating a member of the Jackson clan came when Kim celebrated her fourteenth birthday in October 1994. The party was held at Neverland, Michael Jackson’s famous 3,000-acre ranch near Santa Barbara, about 100 miles north of Los Angeles. Even though she was growing up as a privileged youngster in Beverly Hills, where birthdays and holidays were celebrated with no expense spared, this was something entirely different and totally thrilling. Michael Jackson’s indulgent folly was a children’s paradise – no wonder her friends were keen to join her. T. J. and his brothers were also there, while Kris and Bruce drove everyone and joined in the fun.

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