UPDATE, MAY 28, 2:23 P.M.: La Casa Mental Health Rehabilitation Center issued a statement about Kristoff and Mia St. John's lawsuit over the death of their son in a restroom at the Long Beach facility.
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The statement was delivered through Singer Associates, a public relations firm that represents the hospital:
The staff and management of La Casa Mental Health Rehabilitation Center want to express their deepest sympathies to the family of Julian St. John following his tragic suicide in November 2014.
We believe it is important to state that the California Department of Health Care Services reviewed the case and on May 5, 2015, found that La Casa was in compliance with all applicable licensing laws and regulations. Similarly, the Los Angeles Department of Mental Health concluded that Mr. St. John's treatment and care at La Casa was reasonable and in line with clinical procedures, given his mental condition.
ORIGINAL POST, MAY 27, 6:08 A.M.: A star of The Young and The Restless and his professional boxer ex-wife are suing La Casa Mental Health Rehabilitation Center in Long Beach over the death of their son in a restroom there.
Kristoff St. John, who has been playing Neil Winters on the CBS daytime soap opera for decades, and his former wife Mia Rosales St. John, who won IBA, IFBA and WBC championship belts, allege negligence and wrongful death in their suit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against La Casa's owner, Alameda-based Telecare Corp.
The St. Johns, who seek unspecified damages, allege that when their 24-year-old son Julian was found dead with a bag over his head in a La Casa bathroom on Nov. 23, it was less than three weeks after he attempted to kill himself in the same way. “The facility was aware of Julian's history of suicidal ideation, but only placed him under one-on-one observation for approximately two weeks following his most recent suicide attempt,” states the complaint.
It's further alleged that La Casa nurses and staff members skipped mandatory checks of Julian St. John, regularly falsified documents to cover up their neglect and made no efforts to keep plastic bags away from the suicidal patient, who had also tried to run into oncoming traffic in September.
Mia St. John just tweeted the following …
A Telecare representative was not available for comment on the litigation.
I had no idea Kristoff St. John was dealing with this family turmoil last year, when he was promoting A Man Called God, a documentary that his father directed and started filming 30 years ago. It's about a spiritual journey the St. John family made to Southern India. Here's the trailer:
Kristoff's dad Christopher St. John was a Blaxploitation actor in the 1970s and writer, producer, director and star of the controversial 1972 film Top of the Heap, which was critical of the U.S. government and, the filmmaker claims, got him blackballed in Hollywood.
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