General Hospital refresher: What happened to Alexis' sister Kristina?

When General Hospital's Alexis told Ava that she had a sister named Kristina who was killed, some newer fans began wondering about this other Kristina that the current Kristina was named for. While Kristina Cassadine didn't spend much time in Port Charles before her death, she had quite an impact on Alexis' life.

Who was General Hospital's Kristina Cassadine?

The character we know as Alexis Davis (Nancy Lee Grahn) was given the name Natasha at birth by her mother, Kristen Bergman, the mistress of Mikkos Cassadine. When Alexis was a small child, a vengeful Helena Cassadine (Constance Towers) slit Kristen's throat in front of Alexis. The little girl blocked the murder out and was taken to live on Cassadine Island, but never told she was Mikkos' daughter. Instead, she thought she was a distant cousin who would learn the truth years later.

Alexis also had an infant sister named Kristina. After their mother was found dead, Mikkos sent Kristina to live with an American family to keep her out of Helena's clutches. As a young woman, Kristina (Jaime Ray Newman) learned the truth of her identity and that she had a sister living in Port Charles.

It was Jax (Ingo Rademacher) who learned that the detective he hired to find Brenda Barrett (Vanessa Marcil) was also working for Kristina. When he discovered Kristina was Alexis' sister, he reunited the two women, but danger still lurked in the form of Helena, who was as sadistic and ruthless as ever.

Kristina's brief time in Port Charles

Kristina Carter quickly changed her name to Kristina Cassadine and began a romance with Ned (Wally Kurth), who was once engaged to Alexis. After Alexis had an affair with Sonny (Maurice Benard) and became pregnant, she didn't want Sonny to know he was the father, so Ned stepped in and claimed Alexis' baby as his own.

Kristina was absolutely horrified that Ned would cheat on her with her sister, so she broke up with him. She was also furious with Alexis. One night, Alexis wrote a letter to Sonny with the truth about her baby but chickened out of sending it to him and tossed it in the fireplace.

When Kristina found the letter, she rushed to Sonny's warehouse to tell him he was going to be a father. Sadly, she got caught in the crossfire of one of Sonny's mob wars. A bomb went off, killing Kristina and breaking Alexis' heart. Nine months later, Alexis named her new daughter after the sister she barely knew. That is the Kristina (Kate Mansi) we know today.

Catch all-new episodes of General Hospital weekdays on ABC and Hulu.