Mia St. John Claims Hospital Did Not Properly Treat Kristoff's Mental Illness, Weighing Legal Options

Boxer Mia St. John is holding the mental health facility partially responsible for the death of her ex-husband, Kristoff St. John, and says doctors did not properly recognized the severity of his mental illness and addiction. We're told things got so bad for the soap star in the days before his death that he claimed to see hallucinations of his late-son.

The Blast spoke with Mia, who was married to Kristoff from '91 - '95. She tells us she was involved in getting Kristoff hospitalized back in January after the star had slipped into a deep depression and threatened suicide, and was self-medicating with alcohol.

She says an intervention was staged with some of Kristoff's co-stars from "Young and the Restless," but it didn't work right away. Finally, he did agree to get help. Upon arriving at the hospital, Mia says the family asked for Kristoff to be placed on a 5250 hold, which allows a person with certain mental health disorders to be involuntarily held for up to 14 days.

Kristoff was eventually taken to Las Encinas Mental Health Facility in Pasadena, which is well known as the recovery center used on "Celebrity Rehab."

Mia says she checked in with Kristoff while at the facility and talked to him a few times, but on February 1 she called and had been informed he was released. We're told the family was extremely upset, as they were under the impression he was being kept on a 14-day hold, and after being released he went MIA.

As we reported, the coroner noted that Kristoff was only placed on a 72-hour hold for "threatening to hurt himself and alcohol abuse." Investigators also claimed the star had a history with bipolar disorder and suicidal threats.

After searching, we're told Kristoff finally checked in and spoke with Mia over the phone. She says he was in extremely bad shape. Mia says she knew things took a turn when Kristoff told her that their son, Julian, was knocking at the door of his home to "take me on a walk."

The couples son, Julian, died in 2014 after committing suicide at a mental health facility in Long Beach. Kristoff and Mia succesfully sued the facility, claiming they were negligent while treating their son.

Kristoff was heartbroken after the death of Julian, and Mia says her ex-husband slipped into a very dark place around the anniversary of the boy's death.

We're told Mia is now considering all her legal options, and feels that Kristoff was suffering from a mental illness that was not properly treated by the medical staff at Las Encinas. She hopes to use any legal action taken against the hospital as a platform for facilities to better recognize addiction as a mental illness, instead of releasing patients before they are allegedly ready to survive on their own.

Mia makes it very clear -- she believes Kristoff would still be alive if he had received better care and been treated properly for his illness.

The family, including Mia, are adamant that even though the medical examiner listed Kristoff's official cause of death as heart disease, they know he died as a result of his addiction and abuse of alcohol.

Mia hopes the public takes notice of others struggling and in need of help, and strongly believes there needs to be a change in how society, and treatment facilities, address the issues of addiction.

Getty