‘The Young and Restless’ News: Kristoff St. John Sues Hospital Over Son’s Tragic Suicide

Last year, on November 23rd, “The Young and the Restless” Kristoff St John lost his troubled son Julian St John to an apparent suicide. St John, who portrays Neil Winter on the long-running CBS soap, shared that son Julian had struggled with mental illness and addiction issues but was also a talented artist. Now, the actor is calling out the facility where Julian was staying when he died for not preventing the tragedy and has filed a wrongful death lawsuit.

At the time of Julian St John’s passing, Kristoff released this statement:

“It is with deep sorrow and overwhelming heartbreak that I regretfully share the news that my beautiful, talented, 24 year old son, Julian ‘Jewels’ St. John, passed away on November 23. He suffered from schizophrenia for many years and tragically lost his life just a few days before Thanksgiving, and two weeks before his 25th birthday. His legacy will live on in our hearts and for those that continue to suffer from this insidious disease.”

At the time of his suicide, Julian was staying in a Long beach facility – La Casa Psychiatric Hospital. But, according to his father Kristoff, was not being properly monitored and says his son’s death was completely preventable. Three weeks prior to taking his life, Julian had attempted suicide by putting a plastic bag over his head. He succeeded in an identical attempt and passed away on November 23rd, 2014.

Kristoff’s concerns about the quality of care his son received are understandable. Why was there a plastic bag within reach when Julian had already tried to kill himself once using one? And why wasn’t his son on closer observation after such a recent attempt on his life? Julian’s parents had checked their son into the facility for care but, the lawsuit alleges, he was neglected instead and this lead directly to his death.

The lawsuit says that caregivers were supposed to check on Julian every 15 minutes since he was on suicide watch but states that it had been nearly an hour since his last check when they found him unconscious. Caregiver reports also showed the hospital called 911 at 12:51 pm but Long Beach 911’s reports show the call didn’t come in until 1:17 pm.

Kristoff St John told Entertainment Tonight, “’This lawsuit is to shed light on the inefficiency and the incompetency that happens in mental hospitals nationwide. We have a bad health care system. People should never die in the hospital for lack of care.”

He later said he would not rest in the fight to get justice for his son adding, “My son died because there are millions of people suffering from the mental disabilities of schizophrenia, bipolar, and being depressed. And so at the end of the day his life will not be in vain. His life will be vindicated, and I will campaign until the day that I die to bring justice to my son.”

If the surveillance reports and documentation prove the accusations that Julian was not receiving promised care and that caregivers doctored logs after the fact to make it appear they were checking more regularly, then it’s likely this case does have legs. But, of course, no amount of compensation can bring Kristoff St John’s son Julian back to him. We can only hope that this will force that facility and other psychiatric hospitals to provide compassionate and attentive care that will save lives in the future.

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