How beauty queen doctor's life ended in cocaine binge with HBO producer, cops say

Editor's Note: This story was originally published May 26, 2016. An HBO producer was sentenced by a judge Aug. 14, 2017 for his role in the woman's death.

The final hours for Kiersten Rickenbach Cerveny, a former America's Junior Miss scholarship winner from South Jersey, began when she left a New York City bar in the wee hours last Oct. 4 with HBO producer Marc Johnson, who had offered her cocaine, authorities said.

A cab brought them to a building on West 16th Street in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood, where Johnson's longtime friend - and alleged drug dealer - James Holder lived in a third-floor unit, federal authorities said.

It was in this building that emergency responders later found Cerveny, a 38-year-old dermatologist and married mother of three young children, unconscious in the first-floor doorway. Investigators said she had overdosed, and had been placed there.

On Tuesday night, they arrested Johnson and Holder on drug charges, saying the men had dragged her body to the doorway and abandoned her.

"The defendants' apparent disregard for a victim of this poison is, frankly, unimaginable," New York City Police Commissioner William J. Bratton said in a statement.

Cerveny's death last year stunned those who knew her in Washington Township, Gloucester County, where she grew up and graduated as valedictorian from the high school in 1995. Students voted her as "Most Studious" and "Most Likely to Succeed." Family friends called her "the perfect child." She graduated magna cum laude from Duke University and obtained her medical degree from Tulane University.

But rumors of partying and drug use surfaced in the New York tabloids shortly after her death. Authorities said Wednesday that Cerveny had used cocaine before Johnson met with her and a group of friends at the bar. It's unclear how long Cerveny had known Johnson.

A medical examiner ruled that she died from "acute cocaine and alcohol intoxication."

Holder was charged with conspiracy to distribute at least five kilograms of cocaine, and Johnson with attempting to distribute cocaine.

Authorities said that Cerveny's death was not a homicide, but that an investigation into the source of the drug led to Holder and Johnson.

The men had used cocaine together many times before the night of Cerveny's death, according to a complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

After arriving around 4:25 a.m. Oct. 4 at Holder's building - where Holder had sold cocaine to various individuals since 2003 - Johnson and Cerveny walked up to his unit, the complaint says.

Authorities do not detail the next few hours, but the complaint says that Cerveny became unconscious at some point, and that Johnson and Holder dragged her body to the doorway of the building. Holder then left, the court filing says.

Johnson called 911 around 8:30 a.m., without identifying himself, and requested an ambulance, the complaint says. He allegedly left the building once the ambulance arrived.

Cerveny was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Authorities on Wednesday slammed Johnson and Holder over their alleged actions.

"Drugs destroy lives and communities," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement. "The charges unsealed today against James Holder and Marc Henry Johnson are a reminder of that."

Johnson's attorney, Louis Freeman, did not return a call. It was unclear whether Holder had retained an attorney.

Johnson is a producer on the series The Deuce, which stars James Franco and revolves around the porn industry in New York in the '70s and '80s.

David Simon, cocreator and executive producer of the show, said Wednesday in a statement, "Foremost, this is a grievous tragedy for a young woman and her family. As evidence has yet to be presented and the case yet to be adjudicated, it would be irresponsible to say more than that at this point."

For those who knew Cerveny from Washington Township, where she was known as a talented dancer, was recognized for academic success, and spoke often of her plans to enter the medical profession, the arrests of Johnson and Holder were encouraging news.

"It's good that the police kept up their investigation. It almost seemed that initially everything blew over, that it just became cold," said Richard Barca, 58, of Mantua Township.

He worked at the small furniture business Cerveny's father, Robert Rickenbach, formerly ran out of the family's South Jersey home. Richard Barca and his wife, Eileen, also babysat Cerveny when she was young.

Cerveny, originally Kiersten Rickenbach, gained fame while rising through the local, state, and national levels of the America's Junior Miss competition. In Mobile, Ala., the final stop, she performed a step-aerobics fitness routine that helped her win a $30,000 scholarship.

In more recent years, Cerveny often posted smiling photos of her children on Facebook, and appeared to live happily with her husband, Andrew, and children on Long Island. Cerveny had been chief of dermatology at Brooklyn Hospital Center before leaving several years ago for another practice.

Attempts to reach Andrew Cerveny were unsuccessful Wednesday. The Rickenbach family, which now lives in Scottsdale, Ariz., also could not be reached.

"Everybody's trying to move forward," Richard Barca said. "Especially the Rickenbachs."

mboren@phillynews.com

856-779-3829 @borenmc

Staff writer Emily Babay contributed to this article.