The Tragic Death Of 90 Day Fiance's Geoffrey Paschel's Son
Geoffrey Paschel made waves on reality TV when he appeared on 90 Day Fiancé: Before the 90 Days, seeking to make it official with Varya Malina, his long-distance girlfriend. The Tennessee native booked a flight and flew to Russia to meet Varya in person for the first time. A lovestruck Geoffrey popped the question, but Varya refused.
A few weeks later, cameras caught all the drama when Varya arrived in Tennessee hoping to make amends, but came face to face with Geoffrey's secret rebound lover instead. The pair did eventually get engaged, but it's unclear where their relationship stands now — they may not be together anymore.
That's probably for the best, considering the allegations that later surfaced against Geoffrey. According to the Knoxville News Sentinel, an ex-girlfriend accused him of violently attacking her and disabling her phone to prevent her from calling for help — and that's just the tip of the iceberg of similar claims. Viewers were so disturbed by the allegations that they demanded TLC uninvite Geoffrey from the Season 4 reunion.
The combination of police reports and an on-screen love triangle was more than enough to cement Geoffrey as his season's villain. That was a marked contrast to the beginning of the show, when fans sympathized with Geoffrey because of his experience with tragedy. Months before appearing on the show, Geoffrey suffered a horrible loss when his 13-month-old son, Kazhem, suddenly passed away in 2018.
Geoffrey Paschel's son passed away suddenly
On the Season 4 premiere of Before the 90 Days, Geoffrey Paschel opened up about his loss. "I've had a lot of heartbreak in my life," he said, "but, by far, the absolute worst is what happened to Kazhem." Geoffrey became visibly distraught while describing the tragedy.
"He was a year and a month old. He was at the house, and he had a seizure," he explained, per In Touch Weekly. Geoffrey rushed Kazhem to the hospital, where doctors placed him in a medically induced coma.
The child failed to recover, and Geoffrey and his ex-wife made the heartbreaking decision to take him off of life support.
"Losing a child is the absolute worst thing that could ever happen to you," Paschel said in his confessional. "There's going to be a hole in my heart for the rest of my life, but I know Kazhem's all around me. And that gives me peace in my heart to know that."
In 2020, Geoffrey announced via Instagram that he planned to release a YouTube video about Kazhem. Geoffrey claimed the video was in response to the "internet rumor mill" that accused him of killing his son. Throughout the 13 minute clip, Geoffrey shares medical records, social worker documents, and other details about Kazhem's death in an effort to clear his name.
Though he remains adamant that he was not responsible for the death, a tearful Geoffrey ended the video by admitting that he lacks closure. The cause of Kazhem's seizures remains undiagnosed.