It has not been an easy road for the Jackson family after Michael's tragic death in June 2009. While testifying in the late pop icon's wrongful-death trial, his nephew, T.J. Jackson, broke down in tears while talking about his cousin, Paris Jackson.
T.J. is co-guardian to the troubled 15-year-old with grandmother Katherine Jackson, and was visibly still affected by the teen's suicide attempt on June 5. According to the New York Daily News, when an attorney asked T.J. how Paris was handling her father's death, T.J. was forthcoming, explaining, "It's tough. She was daddy's girl. My uncle was her world."
Adding that Paris was the "princess of [Michael's] life," the 34-year-old said he and the rest of the family are doing all they can to help her.
"Paris has a heart of gold," he said. "I just think the loss of my uncle has hit her at a different level. She's in a tough spot, but we're all loving her and doing everything we can to get her where she should be.
As video footage played of Michael singing with himself and his brothers, T.J. reportedly broke down in tears, needing a minute to compose himself. "He was just everything," TJ said.
A day earlier on Wednesday, June 26, Paris' 16-year-old brother, Prince, also took the stand, explaining that Michael's death hit his little sister the hardest.
"I think out of all of our siblings, she was probably hit the hardest because she was my dad's princess," Prince testified. "It hurt a lot, and she definitely is dealing with it in her own way."
As for how the littlest sibling is doing, 11-year-old Blanket, T.J. said he's trying to live a "normal life."
"Blanket was always wrapped around [Michael's] leg, right behind his leg," he said. "Wherever my uncle was, Blanket was there. My uncle was everything to Blanket."
The lawsuit — in which Prince, Paris, and Blanket are all plaintiffs alongside their grandmother Katherine — alleges that AEG Live (the concert promoter behind Michael's final This Is It tour) is liable in the singer's death because it hired and ultimately supervised Dr. Conrad Murray, the doctor who is now behind bars for involuntary manslaughter. Now in its ninth week, the trial is expected to last until August.
Paris is currently undergoing treatment at a psychiatric facility at UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, Calif. "This really all comes from her not yet over her dad being gone," an insider told Us Weekly of the teen's demons following her hospitalization. "It's been so hard to adjust to stepping back into the world."
