Yesterday, the Los Angeles County Coroner released Kristoff St. John’s cause of death. However, his ex-wife, boxer Mia St. John, disputed the findings released by the office.
According to a report from The New York Daily News , Mia, who was Kristoff’s first wife, felt shocked by yesterday’s announcement. She believes that the actor “drank himself to death.” According to Mia, Kristoff was released from Las Encinas Mental Health Hospital prematurely — just days before his February 3 death at his Woodland Hills home. Kristoff St. John was 52. On January 26, Kristoff was admitted to the facility on a 72-hour psychiatric hold, and the hospital released him on February 1. Two days later, the Young and the Restless star died.
Mia said that she felt shocked by the coroner’s report, which focused primarily on heart disease. She said, “I think it’s misleading. He had four times the legal limit (in his system). The amount of alcohol was a lethal amount.”
She described seeing lots of vodka bottles and alcohol all over Kristoff’s house when she arrived after he died. According to Mia, the scene was typical for the actor’s home.
The report listed Kristoff’s official cause of death as hypertrophic heart disease. In the document, “effects of ethanol” and “myocardial bridging” were listed as contributing factors to the actor’s untimely passing.
Mia believes that Kristoff was not well enough to leave the hospital, and she thinks that they should never have discharged him. In the hours before his death, Mia spoke with Kristoff, and he told her that their late son, Julian, was there to take a walk with him.
Julian St. John died of suicide in November of 2014, and before his death, he battled schizophrenia and addiction. Julian was in a mental hospital when he took his own life. The Long Beach, California, facility he had been residing in later settled with Kristoff and Mia over a lawsuit which they filed, in part, because they realized the facility had falsified their son’s records.
Mia said, “Kristoff was in the hospital just two days before he died. Our attorney Mark Geragos got him in there. It was supposed to be for two weeks, but they let him go after a few days without letting me know,” she said.
On Twitter , the boxer clarified that Kristoff’s co-stars — Bryton James (Devon) and Daniel Goddard (Cane) — helped get him hospitalized before his untimely death.
Of her late ex-husband, Mia said, “He was suicidal going in and suicidal leaving.” She believes that the facility is negligent for having released Kristoff.
Mia said that Kristoff cried every day over the death of their son, and he wasn’t able to get the help he needed. She said, “If someone who’s a celebrity like Kristoff can’t get the help he needs, what does that mean for other people?”
Mia is making it her mission to bring awareness to mental health problems. The boxer said that losing both Julian and Kristoff was among her worst fears. She also shared their daughter, Paris St. John, with the late actor. Kristoff had another daughter, Lola, with his ex-wife, Allana Nadal. The Inquistr reported that Mia recently adopted her late ex-husband’s dogs, Brando and Rocco.
If you or someone you know is in crisis, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. For readers outside the U.S., visit Suicide.org or Befrienders Worldwide for international resources you can use to find help.