The passing of a well-known farming couple at a friend’s California home has taken a heartbreaking turn, with a new lawsuit revealing what allegedly happened in the hours before they were found lifeless.
John “Jay” and Kristen Ruskey had attended a birthday party with dozens of guests before retiring to a bedroom for the night.
But as the hours passed, Jay reportedly became violently ill, leading to a 911 call.
Highlights
- Jay and Kristen Ruskey, founders of Good Land Organics and FRINJ Coffee, passed away at a friend's Cambria home.
- Their children's lawsuit alleges that a faulty water heater released carbon monoxide into the guest bedroom.
- Jay reportedly became violently ill hours before the couple were found unresponsive.
Paramedics visited the property, but the couple was later found unresponsive.
Now, their children’s lawsuit has raised disturbing questions about a disconnected safety alarm, a household appliance, and whether the tragedy could have been prevented.
A famous farming couple were found lifeless after attending a birthday party at their friend’s home
Jay and Kristen Ruskey were known in Santa Barbara, California, for their farming work. They founded Good Land Organics, an exotic-fruit farm, and FRINJ Coffee, a coffee business.
The couple passed away on February 8 at the Cambria home of their friends, Ben and Robin Korman, according to the San Luis Obispo County Sheriff's Office.
Their three children, Kasurina, who was 19 at the time, and 16-year-old twins Aiden and Sean, have now filed a lawsuit against the homeowners and water heater manufacturer Navien Inc.
The lawsuit reportedly describes a series of events that began the previous evening, when Jay and Kristen left their children at home to attend a birthday party hosted by the Kormans.
Between 50 and 60 people reportedly attended the gathering. After the celebrations, the couple stayed overnight in the home's guest bedroom.
According to the lawsuit, they went to sleep at around 2 a.m. on February 8. The complaint claims that the house's water heater repeatedly switched on during the night to meet the demand for hot water from the large number of guests.
The lawsuit alleged that the appliance released carbon monoxide through a faulty ventilation system. The gas reportedly traveled from the laundry room into the guest bedroom through a connecting door, exposing the couple while they slept.
Carbon monoxide is a poisonous gas that cannot be seen or smelled. This makes it especially dangerous because people may not realize they are being exposed.
The couple’s carbon monoxide detector was allegedly disconnected before they arrived
One of the most disturbing claims in the lawsuit concerns the carbon monoxide and smoke detector near the guest bedroom.
According to the complaint, the only detector inside or just outside the bedroom had been disconnected from its electrical wiring and was not working.
The children's lawsuit alleges that the device had been disconnected before Jay and Kristen arrived at the property.
It also claims the homeowners “knew or in the exercise of reasonable care should have known that it was disconnected.”
As a result, the complaint says, “No alarm ever sounded.”
The lawsuit further alleges that the faulty water heater and ventilation system allowed carbon monoxide to build up inside the home without anyone being alerted.
But the couple's ordeal had reportedly begun hours before their bodies were discovered.
Kristen called 911 after Jay started vomiting and showing alarming symptoms
At around 4:34 a.m., Kristen reportedly called 911 because Jay had become seriously unwell.
According to the Santa Barbara Independent, Kristen told the responding paramedics that her husband was “having a bad trip” after eating chocolate allegedly containing psychedelic mushrooms.
Other people at the birthday party reportedly said they heard Jay vomiting and screaming.
Paramedics assessed the situation and recommended that he go to the hospital for “a higher level of care.”
The recommendation was based “on the totality of the circumstances and the decedent’s observed behavior,” according to the report cited by Santa Barbara Independent.
However, Jay refused to go to the hospital or receive further medical treatment. The paramedics subsequently left the property.
The lawsuit alleges that his symptoms included uncontrollable vomiting, seizure-like activity, and losing control of his bowels while in bed. It argues that these were potential signs of acute carbon monoxide po**oning.
The complaint claims that nobody recognized the gas as a possible cause because the detector was not working.
It also alleges that “neither the responding personnel nor the Korman Defendants nor anyone else at the Subject Property identified carbon monoxide as the cause of Jay’s symptoms.”
According to the lawsuit, nobody tested the air in the bedroom or laundry room, switched off the water heater, or ventilated the property.
The Mayo Clinic lists nausea, vomiting, dizziness, and shortness of breath among the possible early symptoms of carbon monoxide po**oning. The symptoms can be difficult to recognize because they may resemble other illnesses.
Jay and Kristen were discovered unresponsive the following morning by the guests
The next morning, between approximately 9:30 and 10 a.m., guests reportedly went to check on the couple.
They found Kristen on the floor of the laundry room, near the door connecting it to the guest bedroom. Jay was still in the bed.
The lawsuit describes the scene, stating, “They [the guests] found Kristen lying unresponsive on the floor of the Laundry Room, inside the door connecting it to the Guest Bedroom. They found Jay in the bed in the Guest Bedroom, unresponsive, pulseless, and not breathing.”
Guests immediately began performing CPR and called 911 again at around 10:20 a.m.
San Luis Obispo County sheriff's deputies, firefighters, and paramedics responded to the property. Despite continued efforts to revive the couple, both were pronounced lifeless at the scene, according to the lawsuit.
A county coroner's investigator examined their bodies and reportedly found no visible signs of injury.
A forensic pathologist later performed autopsies on February 12. The lawsuit says the examinations revealed several findings consistent with carbon monoxide po**oning.
“In each of them, he found cerebral edema, pulmonary congestion, and cherry-pink lividity, the hallmark findings of carbon monoxide po**oning,” the complaint states.
Their passings were ultimately ruled accidental.
A separate report also shed light on the events surrounding Jay’s medical emergency
A report cited by Santa Barbara Independent reported that although Kristen told paramedics that her husband had eaten chocolate containing psychedelic mushrooms, the coroner's report did not find d**gs in the couple's room or vehicle.
No one who attended the birthday party reportedly said they had seen Jay take illegal d**gs.
Investigators did find a piece of gold foil in the room, which detectives believed may have contained the chocolate.
The details matter because Jay's symptoms were initially described as a possible adverse reaction to the chocolate. However, the lawsuit argues that his condition could have been caused by carbon monoxide exposure inside the house.
The available reports do not establish that the chocolate caused his symptoms. The lawsuit instead alleges that the faulty water heater and disconnected detector played a role in the couple's deaths.
The lawsuit also raises questions about what happened after Jay and Kristen passed away
According to the report, the owners of the Cambria property contacted police days later because they were concerned about the carbon monoxide levels inside their home.
When authorities visited, they reportedly found a carbon monoxide detector and smoke alarm in the room where the couple had stayed. Their wires had been disconnected.
The children's lawsuit names the Kormans and Navien Inc., the water heater's manufacturer, as defendants. It seeks to hold them responsible for the events that allegedly led to the deaths.
The California Post reported that it contacted both the homeowners and Navien Inc. for comment.
The claims in the lawsuit have not been established in court, and the defendants' responses were not included in the supplied reports.
Jay and Kristen's passing left their three children without their parents. The siblings are now seeking answers through the lawsuit, while their family has also spoken about the couple's impact on the people around them.
In a statement cited in the report, the family said the findings brought “a somber clarity” but that they wanted to focus on the couple's lives and the good they had done.
“Their legacy lives on through the trees they planted, the farmers they mentored, and the children who carry their spirit forward,” the statement read.
“Smoke and carbon monoxide detectors save lives. For the sake of your loved ones, please have detectors installed in your home and check them regularly. They save lives,” they said.
A GoFundMe organized by family friend Jose Caballero also identified their surviving children as Kasurina, Aiden, and Sean.
"I had the same heating system installed in my old house," wrote one netizen
