Kristoff St. John Cause Of Death: ‘Young and Restless’ Star Died Of Heart Disease

Young and Restless star Kristoff St. John died of heart disease, according to a coroner report released on Tuesday. 

The Los Angeles County coroner’s office listed “hypertrophic heart disease … and effects of ethanol” as the cause of the 52-year-old’s death. It also ruled alcohol as a contributing factor to the actor’s ruled accidental death. 

Three days before he was found dead in his home in San Fernando Valley, St. John had been released from a mental health hospital where he had been admitted for alcohol abuse and threatening self-harm. 

The actor’s body was found after one of his friends went to check on him at his home. And according to the Los Angeles Police Department, a death investigation then took place around 2:05 p.m. for a possible alcohol overdose at the 2300 block of Morea Way. 

St. John, who played the struggling alcoholic and ladies’ man Neil Winters on the CBS’ soap opera Young and the Restless, was laid to rest next to his 24-year-old son Julian St. John, who died by suicide in 2014. He was buried at the Calvary Community Church in Westlake, California. 

Julian struggled with mental illness before his death, and some of St. John’s last social media posts reflected on his son’s suicide. Including a tweet from January 21, which St. John retweeted a post about losing a child. “Grieving the loss of a child is a process. It begins on the day your child passes, and ends the day the parent joins them,” the tweet read. 

“Never a truer word was spoke,” St. John tweeted, who is survived by his fiancée, Kseniya Mikhaleva and daughters Paris and Lola. “Thanks for posting this.”

Earlier this month, St. John’s friends and family gathered to say their last goodbyes to the star at a memorial service. 

Due to visa issues, St. John’s fiancée Mikhaleva was unable to attend, but his father Christopher, gave the eulogy and was accompanied by Lola and his cousin on stage.

“My baby boy Kristoff, I never planned to be standing here on this day. Honestly, I always thought that Kristoff would be standing here to talk about me,” Christopher began.

“When Kristoff was born I held him in my arms, just like this, and he was the most remarkable little baby I’d ever seen. He taught me how to be a better boy, because he knew things about me that I didn’t even realize. Well, we started growing up together, me and Kristoff, and we had the greatest time. He taught me how to laugh and play. We did everything together,” he continued. 

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Once the sermon ended, St. John’s daughters led the family out with the song “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” playing behind them.

Next month, The Young and the Restless is expected to air a storyline that pays tribute to St. John and his character.