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Wednesday, 27 September 2006

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Anna Nicole Smith's lawyer: I'm the baby's dad

Howard K. Stern says he's the "proud father" of the girl, born days before Daniel's death

Howard K. Stern, the lawyer for Anna Nicole Smith, said Tuesday that he's the "proud father" of her baby girl, who was born just days before her 20-year-old son Daniel died in the Bahamas.

Stern, who was with the family in the hospital the night Daniel died, told CNN's Larry King that the newborn has been Anna Nicole's "one ray of hope" following the tragedy.

The child, he said, is "the one thing that is really keeping her going. And through it all, even with all the pain, she has been a great mom, a very attentive mom."

Daniel Smith, 20, died in his mother's hospital room Sept. 10 while visiting her three days after she gave birth to the baby girl. Authorities are still awaiting toxicology test results to determine the cause of death.

Cyril Wecht, a pathologist hired by Anna Nicole to perform a second autopsy, confirmed that Daniel had taken "therapeutic levels" of the antidepressant Lexapro, but Stern said Tuesday: "We also now have an indication that there may have been other prescriptive medication in his system but we don't know, you know, if that would have contributed to his death or not."

As for his relationship with Anna Nicole, Stern said: "We love each other and it's been going on for a very long time and because of my relationship as her lawyer, we felt it was best to keep everything hidden. And we've done a pretty good job of that."

When King asked Stern if he planned to marry Smith, he replied, "I've loved her for quite some time and hopefully the feeling's mutual. At some point, we will. Right now we have to somehow get through what we're going through."