Thedeath of former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Austin Beutner’s daughterhas been ruled a suicide caused by cocktail of prescription drugs and the controversial over-the-counter supplement kratom.
Emily Beutner, 22, died on January 6 in Los Angeles after she wasfound alone on the side of the roadbefore being rushed to a hospital.
On Friday, theLA Medical Examinerdetermined she died from anti-depressant and antipsychotic medications, along with ingredients found in the legal herbal supplement kratom.
Sold widely in gas stations, convenience stores and smoke shops, theopioid-like substance is drawing scrutinyfor its potent effects and high risk of abuse.
Kratom is an herbal extract made from the leaves of a Southeast Asian tree called Mitragyna. Users chew the leaves, brew them into tea or take it in powder, capsule or extract form.
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Austin Beuter, who led the Los Angeles Unified School District as superintendent from 2018 to 2021, dropped out of the mayor’s race about a month after Emily’s death.
“My family has experienced the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter Emily,” he wrote wrote in a statement posted on X. “She was a magical person, the light of our lives. We are still in mourning.”
Emily was found alone on the side of the road near the intersection of Sierra Highway and Technology Drive in Palmdale around 12:10 a.m. on Jan. 6, The Post exclusively reported.
Firefighters said she was struggling to breathe when she was taken to the hospital, where she was later pronounced dead.
Source: California Post – Breaking California News, Photos & Videos
