Family sues over 98-year-old woman allegedly killed with cane by Santa Clara nursing home roommate

SANTA CLARA — The family of a 98-year-old woman who authorities say was fatally beaten by her roommate with a cane last year is suing their nursing home, saying staff contributed to her death by placing her with someone who had a history of serious violence against other patients.

Vera Plares died two days after the reported Dec. 13 attack at Mission Skilled Nursing and Subacute Center on Winchester Boulevard. Connie Jo Delucca, 79, is currently being held in a Santa Clara County jail on charges of felony elder abuse and assault with a deadly weapon in the death, but her criminal case is on hold at least through August pending a mental competency evaluation.

Delucca was charged in June following a Santa Clara police investigation capped by forensic testing on her cane that found both her and Plares’ DNA on it, contributing to the allegation that Delucca hit Plares on the head repeatedly while both women were in bed.

The lawsuit on behalf of Plares’ son Adam Plares Sr. seeks unspecified damages and alleges wrongful death, elder abuse and violation of patient rights by] the facility, its corporate parent Covenant Care and an affiliated business, Suncrest Hospice. It was filed at the end of May, but publicly announced Tuesday.

“We trusted them to take care of my grandma and keep her safe, and they failed miserably,” Adam Plares II, the victim’s grandson, said at a Tuesday news conference outside the nursing home. “My grandmother was placed in a room with a violent woman who had previously tried to murder someone in the same facility.”

He was referring to an accompanying criminal charge alleging that in April 2023, Delucca was caught trying to smother a 103-year-old woman rooming with her, reportedly because she thought the roommate was loud at night. That incident was not charged until after Vera Plares’ death was ruled a homicide.

A police report states that Delucca initially told investigators she was trying to kill the woman, but later said she wanted her to be quiet, and that “she might be ‘crazy’ and not in her right mind,” police said.

Neither the nursing facility nor its corporate parent immediately responded to a request for comment Tuesday. But in a statement to this news organization July 10 — when Delucca was scheduled for arraignment — the company said it was “saddened and shocked” by Vera Plares’ death before declining further comment, citing the ongoing litigation.

“We are working with the resident’s family in an effort to seek resolution and will fully cooperate with applicable authorities as the matter is investigated,” the statement reads. “Covenant Care and its staff express their heartfelt condolences to the family of our resident.”

But plaintiff attorney Victoria Gutierrez, from the Peninsula-based law firm Goyette, Ruano & Thompson, said it was the company that put Vera Plares in danger. Mark Peacock, whose firm Peacock & Bartlett is also representing the plaintiff, said the actions imperiled the victim’s wishes to eventually leave the facility and spend her final days at home with family.

“This is all a tragedy that could have been prevented, had they done their responsibility, had they done and made sure that they conducted all the research properly to put Vera in a safe place,” Gutierrez said Tuesday. “Vera deserved respect and deserved to die with dignity.”