Suspected overdose deaths add up at Milpitas apartments

People with drug and alcohol problems have for years found refuge at a long-term homeless housing program known as Hillview Court in Milpitas. But for an alarming number of them, the promise of stability and support has led to death.

Residents have rung warning bells for more than a year about frequent fatal overdoses where bodies aren’t found until the smell reaches other rooms. Yet Abode Services, the contractor selected by Santa Clara County to manage the 134-apartment complex, boasts of having a wealth of on-site services to focus on the residents’ well-being.

Milpitas police have recorded five calls for service where a person was pronounced dead at the apartments between Sept. 5, 2023 and Sept. 5, 2024. Police couldn’t say whether the causes of death were overdoses — which are determined by the coroner — but they’ve repeatedly been called to the apartments about possible overdose emergencies within the last year. Coroner officials didn’t respond to requests for their data on deaths at Hillview.

Friends and family members of the dead believe the actual number is much higher.

Mariah Lopez, 24, recalls her 40-year-old father, Paul, fighting the idea of moving to Hillview after spending time in sober living homes. Her father believed Hillview would do more harm than good in his fight to get off hard drugs. During her father’s first week at Hillview, a nearby resident was found dead in their room.

“When he moved there he told us it wasn’t a good idea, because he’d seen all this drug use there,” Lopez told San José Spotlight. “He was doing good. But being in those apartments, it’s so easy to get your hands on them.”

Paul died in July, after trying and failing to complete the paperwork for another housing program. As to the cause, Lopez said she’s waiting for more information from the coroner. But his body wasn’t found for five days, Lopez said, leaving it so decomposed the family couldn’t hold an open casket funeral.

“Multiple people had been asking for a welfare check to be done on him,” Lopez said. “They said it was smelling in the hallway by his door and nobody had seen him come out of his house the last couple days with his dog.”

Abode Services CEO Vivian Wang said the organization is committed to its residents.

“We are heartbroken when confronted with any loss of life, and we offer our deepest condolences to the loved ones of anyone who has passed away at supportive housing sites or while experiencing homelessness,” Wang told San José Spotlight. “While we cannot comment on any specific Abode participant or housing resident, we can say with confidence that we are deeply committed to our residents. We remain very invested in listening to their needs, learning what benefits them the most and making sure our supportive services are catered to their needs and goals.”

John Tuitasi, 58, stood in the parking lot of Hillview on Wednesday, watching Milpitas police walk in and out of the apartments amid concerns over residents’ safety. Tuitasi ended up at Hillview after suffering a stroke while homeless in San Jose. He was taken to Valley Medical Center where social workers helped connect him with Abode.

He said he believes more people have died at Hillview than the official numbers let on. But he also said the overdose problem shouldn’t lead to shutting down a site that’s helped people find stability, including himself. He said he’s leaving in two months, after Abode helped connect him with a more permanent housing situation.

“It’s not like the whole apartment (complex) does it,” Tuitasi told San José Spotlight. “The staff can give us the outlet, the support, but some people aren’t ready for it yet. Everybody heals at their own time. Some people get it. Some people don’t.”

Rosie Chavez, a community organizer who’s keeping track of the deaths at Hillview, said she’s frustrated due to the nonprofit’s lack of oversight.

“People are not being called. They’re not doing checks,” Chavez told San José Spotlight. “They’re leaving bodies.”

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Lopez said Abode needs to check in on residents more frequently.

“People are coming in through the back door and not signing in at the front. Sometimes people just sign in and say they’re going to see someone but don’t,” she told San José Spotlight. “Have security check the residents every day. Go knock on their doors. Have people sign in and out every time they come in and out.”

Abode didn’t respond to questions about their resident sign-in and check-in policies.

In three cases where police responded to a possible overdose, a caller from the apartments told dispatchers they suspected a drug overdose. In one case, when the police arrived, they suspected drugs based on the person’s medical symptoms. And in another, fire personnel determined the patient had consumed an excessive amount of alcohol which required medical treatment, Police Lt. Tyler Jamison told San José Spotlight.

County officials are standing by Abode, describing it as a “valued partner” that provides stable housing to the community’s most vulnerable residents.

“The health and safety of all people in our housing programs is central to everything the County of Santa Clara does to end and prevent homelessness, and we are deeply saddened by any loss of life among our residents,” a county Office of Supportive Housing spokesperson told San José Spotlight. “We closely monitor the performance of all our permanent supportive housing programs and providers on an ongoing basis.”
It’s the latest dehumanizing test for residents at the apartments who — until moving to Hillview — are all formerly homeless. When county officials proposed to convert the old Extended Stay America hotel into apartments under Project Homekey in 2020, surrounding Milpitas residents turned out in droves to stop it, claiming it would draw an influx of criminals and mentally ill people on the streets.

But after opening in 2021, Hillview has become a life raft for people hoping to piece their lives back together, with on-site case management, therapy and individual supportive services, as well as weekly group classes and programs. The sessions cover everything from stress management and financial literacy to cooking and harm reduction.

Lopez described her father as immensely loyal to his family, even in the face of his own challenges.

“He was always there if you needed him, no matter what it was. He knew how to play piano, he was a great painter — he painted this huge painting on his whole wall,” Lopez said. “Yeah, he did drugs. But when it was time to be with his family, he knew how to kick that stuff to the curb and get it together.”

Contact Brandon Pho at brandon@sanjosespotlight.com or @brandonphooo on X, formerly known as Twitter.

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