L.A. mayoral candidate Austin Beutner’s daughter dies at 22; cause is unknown

The daughter of Los Angeles mayoral candidate Austin Beutner died earlier this month, and authorities have not yet determined the cause.

Emily Beutner, 22, died at a hospital on Jan. 6, according to information posted on the Los Angeles County Medical Examiner’s website.

“My family has experienced the unimaginable loss of our beloved daughter. We ask for privacy and your prayers at this time,” Beutner said Wednesday in a statement to The Times.

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

Beutner, a former Los Angeles Unified School District superintendent, is the best known of the challengers seeking to unseat Mayor Karen Bass in the June 2 election. In recent weeks, he has sharply criticized the incumbent’s handling of last year’s Palisades fire, which destroyed thousands of homes and left 12 people dead.

Beutner spokesperson Jeff Millman declined to say how the death would affect Beutner’s campaign.

Bass, in a statement, said she is “profoundly saddened” by the news about Beutner’s daughter and is prepared to “assist the family with whatever they might need.”

Bass’ daughter and son-in-law were killed in 2006 in a car crash on the 405 Freeway. At that time, Bass was a member of the state Assembly.

“There is no way to describe the depth of pain experienced by parents who have lost a child,” she said. “My heart is broken for the Beutner family, and I offer Austin, his wife Virginia, and their entire family my deepest condolences.”

Viridiana Aguilar, a spokesperson for the Department of Medical Examiner, said her agency has not yet made a determination on the cause of death, requesting additional testing.

“Due to the ongoing death investigation, the County of Los Angeles Department of Medical Examiner cannot disclose what testing and/or studies were requested,” Aguilar said. “Deferred cases can take a few months before a cause of death is determined.”

Beutner’s last public event as a candidate was on Jan. 5, a day before his daughter died, when he held a news conference in Pacific Palisades. During that event, he called on Bass to form a citizens commission to examine what went wrong before, during and after the disaster.

The Palisades fire destroyed the Pacific Palisades home of Beutner’s mother-in-law. The blaze also seriously damaged Beutner’s own home, forcing him to live elsewhere for the past year.

In recent days, Beutner’s campaign has continued to post on social media, weighing in on real estate developer Rick Caruso’s decision not to run for mayor or governor.

Beutner belongs to a larger field of candidates, many of them unknown, seeking to unseat Bass after a single four-year term. Among them are reality TV star Spencer Pratt, who lost his home in the Palisades fire, and Rae Huang, a community organizer and housing advocate.

Over the course of his career, Beutner did a stint as former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s “jobs czar.” He also spent roughly a year as publisher and chief executive of The Times.