Mickey Rooney's Death Tears Family Apart

Two of Mickey Rooney's daughters are coming forward to INSIDE EDITION claiming they were the last to find out about their father's death.

Did Hollywood legend Mickey Rooney die by choking to death on his food?

That's the shocking allegation from Rooney's stepson, Christopher Aber , son of Rooney's eighth and final wife, Jan Chamberlain. 

"He choked on his own food when he died. That's how he died. They should have been looking after him. No one was there to pat him on the back?" he told the London Daily Mail.

The death of the legendary star is now threatening to tear the Rooney family apart.

Kimmy and Kelly Rooney, Rooney's daughters from his fifth marriage, claim they were kept away from their dad for the past three years. Kimmy said, "To this day, nobody has called and told us anything. We wanted to be so close to him all the time but it was really hard because of his life."

And they only learned about his death after their brother heard about it on the news. Kimmy said, "It was nine o'clock on Monday, my brother Michael had texted me and said; 'Kimmy our father passed away.' "

The LA coroner's office says 93-year-old Mickey died of natural causes in his North Hollywood home where he was cared for by his other stepson, Mark Aber, Christopher's brother. The Rooney sisters don't believe he choked to death.

Kimmy told INSIDE EDITION, "He went to sleep and he didn't wake up. I, for myself, don't have any suspicions around his death."

Rooney testified before Congress about elder abuse three years ago, at his daugters' urging. Rooney claimed that Chris Aber had stolen $2.8 million from him, a charge Aber denied.

Meanwhile, the Rooney sisters say they  don't know anything about funeral arrangements for their dad, nor do they know the value of his estate.

Kelly said, "We haven't really quite heard anything about it." Kimmy added, "And we're not sure we're going to hear anything about it, as usual."

But they're ready to fight for Mickey Rooney's countless awards. Kimmy said, "We want his trophies. We want his Oscars. We would like the Emmy. We believe that  those things are ours. It's our heritage."

Rooney looked happy and healthy in a photo taken on St. Patrick's Day with his good friend, actress Margaret O'Brien, and he appeared to be in great spirits in what's believed to be the last photo taken just over a week ago with his buddies, Mel Brooks and Dick Van Patten.

Kimmy said,  "We want the world to know they've lost one of the greatest entertainers that ever lived. We lost our father."