“The Young and the Restless” actor Kristoff St. John and his ex-wife settled a lawsuit they filed against the parent company of the Long Beach mental health hospital where their son took his own life in 2014, court papers obtained Monday show.
Lawyers for the actor and his former spouse, boxer Mia St. John, and Alameda-based Telecare Corp. told Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Holly Fujie on Friday that the case was resolved. No terms were divulged.
Julian St. John was found dead with a plastic bag over his head in a bathroom at La Casa Mental Health Rehabilitation Center on Nov. 23, 2014, less than three weeks after he attempted to kill himself in the same way, according to his parents’ lawsuit. He was 24.
“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,” the suit stated.
The St. Johns filed the lawsuit in May 2015, alleging that nurses and staff members regularly skipped mandatory checks and observations of their son, and that facility’s employees regularly falsified documents to cover up the neglect.
“Moreover, defendants’ employees made no attempt to prevent Julian from obtaining plastic bags after he tried to take his own life with one,” the suit says.
Julian St. John would still be alive if the employees followed the proper procedures, according to his parents’ lawsuit, which stated that he “battled mental illness his entire life” and had previously tried to kill himself by running into oncoming traffic in 2013.
He dropped out of high school, often left home to live in parks and “began taking drugs frequently,” according to the St. Johns’ lawsuit.
–City News Service