The cause of death of Austin Beutner’s daughter, 22, has been revealed

The death of Emily Beutner, the daughter of former Los Angeles schools Supt. Austin Beutner, was the result of a combination of active compounds from the herbal substance kratom and prescription anti-depressants and antidepressants, according to the LA County medical examiner.

The 22-year-old’s death has been ruled a suicide, the medical examiner said in a statement on Friday.

Emily Beutner was found on the side of a freeway in Palmdale after a passerby alerted authorities to a woman in “medical distress” shortly after midnight on Jan. 6, according to the LA County Sheriff’s Department. He was taken to the hospital where he was pronounced dead at 2:10 a.m., according to the Medical Examiner.

A month later, Austin Beutner announced that he was ending his campaign for mayor of LA, expressing grief over the death of his daughter.

The medical examiner determined that his death was due to the effects of mitragynine, 7-hydroxymitragynine, quetiapine and mirtazapine. A deputy medical examiner performed an autopsy Jan. 15, and the cause and manner of death were confirmed Friday.

Quetiapine is an anti-depressant and mirtazapine is an antidepressant. Mitragynine and 7-hydroxymitragynine are the active compounds found in kratom. All four of these substances can have sedating effects and slow or suppress breathing when combined, leading to death.

Kratom is an herbal ingredient found in leaves Mitragyna speciosa tree, which has active compounds that can act like opioids in high doses. 7-hydroxymitragynine, also known as 7-OH, is primarily responsible for opioid-like effects such as pain relief and euphoria.

In November, the LA County Department of Public Health announced it was banning the sale of all products containing kratom and 7-OH after six kratom-related deaths were reported in the county.

Some toxicologists say that there is not enough research to provide a complete understanding of what concentration of kratom or 7-OH would be most harmful to the body. Many kratom-related deaths have occurred when the substance is mixed with other drugs.

Emily Beutner was a student at Loyola Marymount University and the youngest, and only daughter, of Beutner’s four children.

In a February statement announcing the end of his mayoral campaign, Beutner described him as “a magical person, the light of our lives.” i

Beutner served as superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District from 2018 to 2021. He also made a name for himself as Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s “career governor” and spent nearly a year as publisher and chief executive officer of The Times.

Times staff writers David Zahniser, Richard Winton, Noah Goldberg and Karen Garcia contributed to this report.