05/22/1999, The Associated Press - Oklahoma City, OK

Former child actress Dana Plato, who had long battled problems with drugs, committed suicide with an overdose of painkillers and muscle relaxants, the state medical examiner's office ruled Friday.

Plato, who played Kimberly Drummond on the NBC sitcom "Diff'rent Strokes" from 1978 to 1984 (and on ABC from 1985 to 1986), died May 8 while visiting her fiance's parents in Moore.

"I expected that she overdosed," fiance Robert Menchaca Jr., said Friday. He had said in a news conference days after the death that he trusted her judgment as she took the prescription drugs he said a Tulsa doctor had prescribed May 3 for back injuries Plato had suffered in a car accident.

Police initially said she died of an accidental drug overdose of Lortab and Valium.

But Dr. Larry E. Balding, the deputy medical examiner, said Friday that laboratory studies showed fatal concentrations of the drugs carisoprodol and hydro- codone/acetaminophen in her blood and tissues and the equivalent of seven tablets of carisoprodol still in her stomach. Carisoprodol is the generic name for the muscle relaxant Soma. Hydrocodone/acetam- inophen is the generic formulation for the painkiller Lortab.

Balding said the death was ruled a suicide because of the drug concentrations, her past history of suicidal gestures and the agency's investigation of the death.

Plato, 34, had had numerous problems since the sitcom's cancellation. In 1991, she was arrested for robbing a Las Vegas video store and was placed on five years' probation. A year later, she was given another five years' probation for forging prescriptions for Valium.

"If I hadn't gotten caught, it could have been the worst thing that happened to me, because I could have died of a drug overdose," she said then.

Plato had appeared on Howard Stern's radio program in New York on May 7 to deny the claims of a former roommate who said Plato was on drugs. Plato said she had been sober for about 10 years, though she had taken painkillers when her wisdom teeth were removed four months ago.

This week, a Cleveland County judge ordered the motor home where Plato died impounded until a hearing can be held to determine who owns the vehicle.

Plato's 14-year-old son, Tyler Lambert of Tulsa, wants the motor home. Menchaca's attorney said his client paid for the motor home although it was in her name.

Outside the courthouse, Lambert's paternal grandmother, Joni Richardson, said she was suspicious of Menchaca's motives and noted that he had taken photos of Plato in a comatose state.

Menchaca had told police he thought Plato was snoring when he took the photos. Moore police spokesman Sgt. Scott Singer said that actually Plato's lungs were filling with fluid.

A memorial service was held on Sunday, May 23rd in Los Angeles.