In 1989, Christian Brando entered a Los Angeles court to face a murder charge. He was tried and convicted for beating Dag Drollet to death in 1990 and was sentenced to 10 years in prison. Drollet was the boyfriend of Brando's half-sister Cheyenne.
After the murder conviction, Brando's life continued to spiral downward into drug abuse and self-destruction. He remained incarcerated until 1996 when he was released early after serving less than half of a 10-year sentence.
In January 2005, Brando was arrested again, this time for allegedly stealing $2 million worth of jewelry from his own mother. The charges against him were later dismissed.
In late 2006, Christian Brando was hospitalized after suffering a lung infection. He was subsequently diagnosed with pneumonia and transferred to the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.
Christian Brando died on January 26, 2008, at the UCLA Medical Center at age 49. The cause of death was pneumonia and complications from liver failure.
Brando's death at the age of 49 marked a sad and tragic end to a life that might have been filled with so much promise and potential. Instead, it was a life tragically cut short by addiction and violence.