Who Was Kristoff St. John's Son? New Details About Julian St. John
Michael King The passing of his son Julian St. John affected Kristoff St. John for years, right up until his own death earlier this month. The Young & the Restless star was found dead of an apparent alcohol overdose in his San Fernando Valley home on Feb. 3. He was 52.
“He was able to overcome so many things, but the death of Julian was just a breaking point for him in a lot of ways,” Stephanie Sloane, editorial director of Soap Opera Digest, told PEOPLE of Kristoff. Kristoff's death came four years after his son's suicide, from which he never seemed to have recovered.
In January, Kristoff was treated at the UCLA Medical Center for depression linked to his son's passing. In 2017, on the anniversary of Julian's death, Kristoff threatened to shoot himself and was placed on a 72-hour hold for a psychiatric evaluation. His son's suicide plagued him for years and he was unable to move past the haunting memory.
So who was Kristoff St. John's son, Julian St. John? We have all the details.
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1. He was an artist.
Julian was a budding artist and was making headlines just before his death. His art was displayed at many galleries, including the Laguna Gallery of Contemporary Art in 2013. His art and poems were inspired by his struggles with mental illness and depicted his journey through life.
El Saber Es Poder
2. He took his own life.
Julian was found dead in his room at a health facility in Long Beach, California on Nov. 23, 2014. The 24-year-old's death was ruled a suicide and it haunted Kristoff for the rest of his life.
3. His parents filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the facility.
Not long after Julian's tragic death, Kristoff and Mia filed a wrongful death lawsuit against the La Casa Psychiatric Health Facility, claiming the facility was "widespread and pervasive" in its negligence in treating their son. Julian was supposed to be on suicide watch and checked on every 15 minutes but the staff regularly skipped these checks.
Security footage showed that on the day of his death, Julian was left alone for over an hour before he was found dead, the suit stated. The lawsuit was settled out of court in 2017.
4. He had a history of mental illness.
According to the LA Times, Julian was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 18. He suffered from severe depression and often had delusions.
His mental health led him to homelessness, but not against his will. He chose to leave home and wander the streets, often not telling his family of his whereabouts for long periods of time as he pursued his own life and battled his inner demons. He was institutionalized many times over the years before he died at a facility in California.
5. His parents set up a foundation to focus on mental health awareness,
With the money they landed from the lawsuit against the mental health facility Julian died at, Kristoff and Mia founded El Sabor es Poder (Knowledge is Power) Foundation in an effort to battle mental illness.
The foundation's mission is to "empower individuals suffering from mental illness, homelessness, addiction, and poverty by providing programs to better educate, inform and improve physical and mental health," according to its website.
El Saber es Poder
6. Kristoff saw his son before he died.
Kristoff's ex-wife Mia St. John detailed her last conversation with him before he died, including how Kristoff said he was going to take a walk with Julian.
“He called me at 11 a.m. and the first thing he said was, ‘Mia, thank God you answered,’” she shared with Entertainment Tonight. “He was just so depressed. He was drinking and just saying, like, nonsense — that he didn't want to be here anymore.”
According to Mia, Kristoff was so disoriented that he believed he was with their late son.
“He said, ‘Julian is at the door I gotta get the door,’” she continued. “[He] said, ‘OK, let’s talk to Julian, bring Julian in.’ Julian came in and he said, ‘Julian is gonna take me for a walk now’ and I said, ‘No you aren’t going for a walk right now.’”
Mia said that although she is mourning, she finds comfort in the fact that Kristoff was not alone when he died.
“That was the only thing. When he told me that Julian came to the door and I knew that my son came and took him home. And that was my only comfort,” she said.
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7. Kristoff will be buried next to Julian.
Kristoff's final resting place will be next to his son, TMZ reports. The actor will be buried at the Valley Oaks Memorial Park in Westlake Village, California in a plot beside Julian.
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Sarah Gangraw writes about all things news, entertainment and crime. You can follow her on Instagram and Twitter.
