Lawsuit filed after great grandmother slain in Santa Clara nursing home

(KRON) — A nearly 100-year-old South Bay great grandmother was allegedly beaten to death by her roommate inside a nursing home in Santa Clara, according to a newly filed lawsuit.

Vera Plares, 98, died inside a hospital on December 15. A coroner concluded that her death was a homicide caused by blunt force trauma, according to attorneys.

This week, attorneys spoke to reporters about the great grandmother’s disturbing experience living at Mission Skilled Nursing & Subacute Center with a physically aggressive roommate.

Defendants named in the wrongful death and elder abuse lawsuit include: Covenant Care California, Mission, and Suncrest Hospice San Jose.

“Mission and Suncrest knowingly and willingly placed an aggressive patient, with a documented history of violence towards residents, who has been placed on multiple 5150 holds, and who was nearly twenty years younger and mobile, in Vera Plares' room, defendants’ most vulnerable patient. Less than 48 hours after the brutal attack, Vera Plares succumbed to her injuries and passed away.”

Before her sudden, violent death, Plares was honored by her church, Filipino Assembly of the First Born, for being its oldest congregation member in 2023. She is survived by her five children, nine grandchildren, 19 great grandchildren, and four great-great grandchildren.

Mission is a 133-bed, nursing and rehabilitation facility that provides short-term and long- term residency. In April of 2023 Plares began living at Mission and her family members visited her frequently.

“At some point after being transferred, defendants made the calculated decision to
place Vera Plares with roommate Connie Delucca … in Room 302,” the lawsuit states. “Connie has a history of being violent at Mission. On December 13, 2023, Vera Plares was brutally physically attacked by Connie. Connie used her 32-inch cane as the main source of beating Vera Plares.”

A staff nurse found Plares suffering from facial injuries.

After pleading from family members, staff members agreed to transfer Plares to Valley Medical Center, where she died soon after, according to the lawsuit.

The Santa Clara Police Department opened a homicide investigation. The District Attorney’s Office filed homicide charges against the roommate, attorney Victoria Gutierrez said.

Gutierrez, of Goyette, Ruano & Thompson, said, “The family of Vera Plares is suffering and distraught. Their most cherished matriarch was taken from them. She should still be with her family today. Mission and its co-defendants’ staff completely failed in its responsibility to ensure Vera's right to be safe. They put a patient they knew to be violent and dangerous in with a completely vulnerable woman.”

Plares’ family members said they hope to prevent future deaths at nursing facilities for the elderly.

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