15-Year-Old Electronics Heiress Dies

The 15-year-old daughter of a prominent Rancho Santa Fe family and major benefactor to a La Jolla drug and alcohol rehabilitation clinic that bears their name died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound, authorities said.

Kirstie McDonald, heiress to a radio electronics fortune, died in the emergency room at Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla late Friday, 2 1/2 hours after she reportedly shot herself in the stomach while in the Encinitas home of an older brother, Conrad Lust.

The family is a major contributor to Scripps Memorial’s McDonald Center, an alcoholism and drug addiction treatment center. Two teen-age friends were present during the incident, authorities said.

Sgt. Jerry Lewis of the San Diego County Sheriff’s Department said the girl was still conscious when officials arrived. “She indicated to patrol officers that the wound was self-inflicted,” Lewis said.

Friends of the family said the girl had attended La Jolla Country Day School and most recently had been a student at Winston School in Del Mar, a private institution for children with learning disabilities.

A private service was held Monday at Encinitas Mortuary in Leucadia. The family could not be reached for comment.

Eva Hough, a friend of the McDonald family, said Kirstie McDonald is survived by five brothers and sisters.

The girl’s mother, Marianne McDonald, 54, is a businesswoman, philanthropist and classics scholar who has been associated with the faculties at both UC San Diego and UC Irvine. Kirstie McDonald is also the granddaughter of the late Eugene McDonald Jr., founder of the Zenith Radio Corp.