Family files lawsuit after 98-year-old grandmother allegedly killed by roommate at Santa Clara nursing home

SANTA CLARA, Calif. (KGO) — A family is demanding accountability for the death of a 98-year-old relative following an attack in a nursing home.

The family says the nursing home could have prevented the attack.

“Grandma hugged everyone and she was incredibly witty, very, very funny, very quick-witted. She was also very intelligent,” said Adam Plares II, Vera Plares’ youngest grandson.

He said Vera Plares was a mother, wife, grandmother and great-grandmother.

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Although her youngest grandson will always remember the good times, he too cannot forget the tragedy that separated her from her loved ones.

“Just the sight of my grandmother in this condition haunts me every night,” said Adam Plares II. “I can’t sleep.”

According to a criminal complaint filed by the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office, Vera Plares was attacked on December 13, 2023, at her nursing home, Mission Skilled Nursing and Sub Acute Center in Santa Clara.

The attacker was her 79-year-old roommate.

The family, who say they visit and check on her regularly, said they received calls hours after the attack and had to insist that she be taken to a local hospital.

“When I saw her condition, I saw my grandmother with bruises, a bleeding, swollen eye and broken teeth,” Plares said. “I mean, it was very, very brutal and disgusting and it broke my heart and I knew immediately that my grandmother was not going to make it.”

Vera Plares died a few days later.

According to court documents, the roommate had attacked someone months earlier, in April.

Vera’s family has now filed a civil lawsuit against the nursing home, its parent company and the hospice partner.

“She was very vulnerable and they put her with someone who was extremely dangerous,” said attorney Victoria Guiterrez of Goyette Ruano Thompson, who is representing the family.

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ABC7 reached out to the nursing home and was told the nursing home administrator would be notified, but we have not received a response.

In a statement to our media partner The Mercury News following the charges against the resident, the nursing home said it was saddened and shocked by recent events. They went on to say they could not comment further as the matter was before the courts.

The Plares family’s lawyers say that although the family is demanding compensation, they first want to provide information.

“If something like this is happening in a beautiful, high-quality care facility like Mission Skilled, owned by the giant Convent Care corporation, what about smaller, less expensive, less sophisticated facilities?” says Paul Goyette of Goyette Ruano Thompson. “There’s a problem out there.”

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Criminal charges have been filed against the 79-year-old who is accused of attacking Vera.

However, the trial was suspended due to doubts about the person’s mental capacity.

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