Celebrity Mound

In a new twist to the Casey Johnson saga, Tila Tequila reveals that she is seeking custody of her late fiancée’s adopted daughter.

Johnson’s mother, Sale, currently has custody of Ava, 3, which Tequila insists goes against what her “wifey” wanted.

“Her last wish was to have Ava, have me have Ava,” Tequila told “Extra,” explaining that she intends to file adoption papers.

“[Casey's] not resting in peace right now,” she added. “She has come to me in my dreams.”

The Twitter-addicted reality star, who has tweeted about the Johnson & Johnson heiress more than 160 times since her Jan. 4 death, said she was kept in the dark about her late lover’s funeral plans.

Johnson was buried Tuesday in a tiny graveyard in Princeton, N.J., where only immediate family was in attendance, sources told the Daily News.

In a tearful interview with RadarOnline.com, Tequila recalled how she first learned that Johnson was dead.

“The last time I spoke with her was on the 30th, late on the 30th and everything was fine. The last thing she said was, ‘I love you so much. I never want to lose you. I can’t wait for us to start our family together.’ And then I said, ‘I love you too and I’ll be back home soon,’ ” she said before breaking into tears, as mascara ran down her face.

After she was unable to get ahold of Johnson on New Year’s Eve, however, Tequila says she became concerned, first thinking her partner was mad at her and then worrying that her phone service had been cut off.

“Finally I got a call from my friend, Joe Francis. That’s when I immediately booked a ticket home,” she choked. “The minute Joe called me, I was back here within three and a half hours, and that’s when I found out. Joe hid me at his house.”

Although cause of death for Johnson is still pending, Tequila believes she didn’t try to take her own life.

“I know for a fact, because Casey was so excited for our life together. I know for a fact it was not suicide,” she told “Extra!”

A maid discovered the body of Johnson, 30, in a bed at a friend’s home on Jan. 4. Investigators suspect diabetes – which Johnson had been living with since childhood – led to her death. Toxicology results have not been released.

More of Tila Tequila’s interview with “Extra!” airs at 7 p.m., Wednesday on NBC.

A catfight nearly broke out over Casey Johnson’s dogs Wednesday when celebrity friends of the doomed heiress tried to retrieve them from her “Wifey.”

Reality TV star Tila Tequila refused to open the door when Johnson’s pals Nicky Hilton and Bijou Phillips arrived – and bizarrely told reporters she feared the twosome was going to put the pooches down.

“They don’t care about the dogs. They are putting them to sleep to bury with Casey,” Tequila exclaimed – an allegation flatly denied by a family spokesman.

One of the pooches, an 18-year-old toy poodle named Zoe, “is very old and sick and has a lot of issues,” said Jesse Derris, a spokesman for Casey Johnson’s heartbroken dad, Jets owner Woody Johnson.

“The family plans to seek veterinary help for those issues,” he said, but is not planning to put the dog down.

Tequila called the cops when Hilton and Phillips showed up – even though a source familiar with the incident said “they had set this up with Tila’s assistant.”

As Hilton and Phillips were explaining why they were there, “Tila opened the door and ran outside,” the source said.

“I didn’t know who was pounding on my door,” Tequila explained, standing on her Studio City, Calif., porch in a purple tank top, gray jeans and Uggs. “It’s been quite hard because it’s all of them against me.

“I feel that everybody needs somebody to blame, and they want to blame me. I have to go clean up the house because they just messed everything up in my house.”

Besides Zoe and a second dog, a Yorkie, Casey Johnson’s friends also took a rack of her clothes, including several fur coats, along with packages of insulin she took for her diabetes.

Asked if there was any plan to bury the dogs with Johnson, Phillips replied, “No.” Then she loaded a red suitcase filled with her friend’s gear into a black Range Rover.

It was not clear if the eye-popping 17-carat engagement ring Johnson gave Tequila in an online video – while both were clad in bras and panties – was among the retrieved items.

Woody Johnson’s spokesman also hotly denied Tequila’s claims that she was to meet with members of the family.

“It’s not true,” said Derris.

Tequila, 28, announced she was meeting with the Johnsons earlier in the day on Twitter. “Meeting with my family and my Fiance’s Family,” she wrote.

While Johnson’s sisters, Jaime and Daisy, are in town to collect their big sister’s remains, meeting with Tequila is not on their agenda, a source close to the Johnsons told the Daily News.

“Casey’s family and friends would rather deal with the Devil,” the source said.

Tequila was not invited to the memorial Nicky Hilton hosted on Tuesday night. But old pals like Paris Hilton, Nicole Richie, Alexandra von Furstenberg and Brandon Davis were there, the source said.

Johnson’s grieving father and her mother, Sale, stayed on the East Coast, the source said.

The 30-year-old heiress to the Johnson & Johnson fortune was found dead Monday. A short time later, Tequila confirmed the death of “my Wifey Casey Johnson” on Twitter. The initial autopsy showed no evidence of trauma, but the heiress had battled booze and drug addiction. Investigators are awaiting the results of toxicological tests done by the Los Angeles County coroner before they announce the cause of death.

Meanwhile, the LAPD shot down a report they want to question Tequila about Casey’s death.

“We’re not seeking Tila Tequila,” Detective John Shafia said.

It was not clear when Tequila last saw Casey, who lay dead in her bed for several days before she was found.

They had a spat after Christmas and there were conflicting reports on whether they saw each other on New Year’s Eve.

Johnson’s friends said her parents tried to get her into rehab, but the source close to the family insisted the heiress was done with her “recreational drug phase.”

“There were no illegal drugs at her house,” he said. “She had a refrigerator full of medication for her diabetes.”

Still, in an attempt to get Johnson straight, her parents tried tough love and cut off her money – and she was in deep debt when she died.

Casey Johnson’s body is expected to be flown back this week for burial after a private funeral limited to immediate family, Derris said.

Baby-powder heiress Casey Johnson has flown to New York with her “fiancée,” Tila Tequila, to try to reclaim her daughter, Ava, from the custody of her mother, Sale Johnson, and bring the toddler back to LA.

Casey adopted the girl from Kazakhstan two years ago over the objections of her aunt, Libet Johnson, who built an orphanage in Cambodia. But Sale took custody earlier this year out of concern for little Ava’s safety.

“Casey is intent on getting her daughter back,” an acquaintance from LA said. But friends are distancing themselves from the increasingly erratic heiress.

“When I went to her rented house on Mulholland Drive recently, it was like Grey Gardens,” our source said. “There are dirty dishes everywhere and rotting food. There is graffiti on the walls. The pool looks like a swamp.”

Johnson’s father, New York Jet owner Woody Johnson, and the rest of the family recently restricted Casey’s access to funds because she repeatedly has refused to get the help they say she needs. She’s been in rehab several times but has never finished the programs.

“She can’t pay her bills, so the electricity was cut off. She can’t put gas in her car,” said our source. “She’s been keeping her Porsche in the garage because she’s afraid it will be repossessed.”

Tila and Casey announced their engagement this month with a video they posted online of themselves in bed wearing only bras and panties.

As Casey smiles in an apparent stupor, Tequila rants: “Look at this ring. Its 18-carat because my baby is ballin’. We are going to make love tonight for our honeymoon . . . She adopted a baby, Ava, and I love children. We already have a family. We are going to buy a house together and, once we get situated, throw an engagement party.”

(source)