Kim Richards Lost Custody: Casey Johnson's Daughter Was Taken From The 'RHOBH' Star
Kim Richards once had custody of Casey Johnson's three-year-old daughter.
Although the Real Housewives of Beverly Hills star and heiress weren't related, they had a close relationship and when Johnson was struggling with drugs, Richards stepped in to care for her daughter. However, the custody arrangement was short-lived.
“Casey . . . turned Ava over to Kathy [Richards’] sister Kim, who had her own long history of alcohol addiction,” author Jerry Oppenheimer claimed in his new tell-all, Crazy Rich: Power, Scandal, and Tragedy Inside the Johnson & Johnson Dynasty, according to an Aug. 11 report by Radar Online. “Kim had been sober for ten years and at that point she was fine.”
Unfortunately, Richards didn't stay sober and, as fans of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills saw on the first two seasons of the show, she eventually went off the deep end with her addiction.
Eventually, Johnson stepped in and demanded Richards' custody be stripped.
Not only was Richards reportedly drinking, and possibly using drugs, she was also taking things too far with Johnson's daughter. According to Oppenheimer, Johnson discovered Ava was referring to Richards as "mommy" and immediately confronted her, demanding they end their custody arrangement.
“Casey went ballistic and said to Kim, ‘Give me my kid back! What do you mean she’s calling you mommy, I’m her mommy!’” Oppenheimer alleged.
In Jan. 2010, after struggling with her demons for years, Johnson was found dead. It was later revealed she had died from natural causes and suffered diabetic ketoacidosis.