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LI Doctor Who Died In Chelsea Doorway Was A "Happy Drunk," Friend Says
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 7, 2015
Modified Oct 7, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 7, 2015
Modified Oct 7, 2015
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The NYC Medical Examiner's Office has yet to release the official cause of death of a 38-year-old dermatologist who was initially found unconscious in a Manhattan doorway on Sunday, but Police Commissioner Bill Bratton said Kiersten Cerveny's passing probably "had to do with the ingestion of narcotics."
Cerveny, a married dermatologist and mother of three who lived in Manhasset, had allegedly been doing cocaine in the hours before her death: She went out with girlfriends on Saturday night at a downtown Manhattan hotel and then headed to a bar on the Lower East Side. Around 2 a.m., she and her friends met up with Marc Henry Johnson, 51, a TV producer, and later left the bar with Johnson, going to 223 West 16th Street at 4:23 a.m. where James "Pepsi" Holder lives.
At some point early Sunday morning, Holder and Johnson were seen on videotape, carrying an "incapacitated" Cerveny down the stairs and "plac[ing] her in the lobby of the building." Around 8:30 a.m., Johnson allegedly called 911 to say there was an unconscious woman in the lobby, then fleeing when police arrived. Cerveny, who was fully clothed, died at Lennox Hill Hospital Annex.
Newsday reports, "[An initial] test, conducted at the time of her autopsy Monday, showed Cerveny, 38 and the married mother of three, had used cocaine, said the official, who didn't want to be named. But further toxicology tests were needed to determine the quantity of cocaine in her body and whether there were any other drugs present, the official said."
Johnson has been producing a series, The Deuce, about New York's porn industry and prostitution during the 1970s and 1980s for HBO, starring James Franco and Maggie Gyllenhaal, but he's reportedly removing himself from the project for the time-being. He has not been charged with any crime, but police are still looking to question Holder.
Cerveny's friend, Caron Bernstein, told the Post that she wasn’t "a drug addict" but the victim of "a tragic, horrifying mistake." Berstein insisted, "She was a bit of a happy drunk, and every blue moon she would go out and tie one on, but she was a good girl... Once she had the second drink, she didn’t make the best choices, and it would be up to us to make sure she got home safe."
Cerveny married her husband in 2009; their three children are one to seven years old.
Tagged
cocaine
drug overdose
kiersten cerveny
marc johnson
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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