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ME Confirms Cocaine Overdose In Death Of LI Doctor Found In Chelsea Doorway
By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 20, 2015
Modified Oct 20, 2015
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By
Jen Chung
Published Oct 20, 2015
Modified Oct 20, 2015
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The autopsy results are in for the Long Island dermatologist who was left for dead in a Chelsea apartment building vestibule. The NYC Medical Examiner's Office said that Kiersten Cerveny, 38, died of "acute cocaine and alcohol intoxication."
Cerveny, a married mother of three who lived in Manhasset, was found in the doorway of 221 West 16th Street on the morning of October 4th. She had spent the previous night out with girlfriends at a downtown Manhattan hotel before going 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 the West 16th Street building at 4:23 a.m. where James 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 Lenox Hill Hospital Annex.
Police had suspected an overdose and Holder is a suspected drug dealer (his nickname is "Pepsi"). A friend of Cerveny's told the Post that she wasn't a drug addict, "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, who grew up in NJ and won the "America's Junior Miss" pageant, practiced dermatology in Brooklyn and Manhattan. She and her husband had three young children. A small funeral was held for her and the funeral home says, "A fund will be established for the college education of Kiersten's three beautiful children."
Tagged
alcohol ingestion
cocaine
kiersten cerveny
marc johnson
overdose
Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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