The passing of Emily Beutner, daughter of former Los Angeles schools Superintendent Austin Beutner, was attributed to a mix of compounds from kratom along with prescribed anti-psychotic and antidepressant medications, as reported by the L.A. County medical examiner.
The medical examiner determined her death, ruled a suicide, was officially made public in a statement on Friday. Emily, who was 22, had been discovered by the side of a highway in Palmdale after someone informed authorities of a woman experiencing “medical distress” shortly after midnight on January 6. She was taken to the hospital but was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m.
A month later, Austin Beutner announced he was stepping away from his campaign for mayor of L.A., citing the profound grief from his daughter’s death.
The medical examination revealed that her death was caused by mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, quetiapine, and mirtazapine. An examination on January 15 led to the certification of the cause and manner of death just a few weeks later.
Quetiapine is known as an antipsychotic drug while mirtazapine serves as an antidepressant. The active compounds, mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine, found in kratom can mimic opioid effects at higher doses. When combined, these substances may lead to sedation and suppress breathing, potentially resulting in death.
Kratom comes from the leaves of the Mitragyna speciosa tree and has compounds that can act like opioids in certain doses, with 7-hydroxymitragynine mainly contributing to effects such as pain relief and euphoria.
In November, the L.A. County Department of Public Health made headlines by banning the sale of products containing kratom and 7-OH following an increase in kratom-related fatalities in the area.
Some experts indicate that research is lacking in fully understanding which concentrations of kratom or its compounds may be toxic, with most fatalities reported when kratom is mixed with other substances.
Emily was studying at Loyola Marymount University and was the youngest of Beutner’s four children, and his only daughter. In a statement in February regarding the end of his mayoral campaign, he described her as “a magical person, the light of our lives.”
Beutner’s career includes serving as the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2018 to 2021, working under former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, and a year spent as the publisher and chief executive of The Times.
