Everett woman gets 9 months in mistreatment death

Published 10:33 pm Tuesday, February 26, 2008

EVERETT — The sad case of a woman who died in 2002 after receiving shoddy treatment at an adult-care facility is finally over.

A woman Tuesday was sentenced to nine months of electronic home monitoring after she pleaded guilty to first-degree criminal mistreatment. Criminal charges against a man who had been charged with manslaughter and mistreatment in the case were dismissed Tuesday because a prosecutor said it was impossible to prove his guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.

The criminal charges were filed in 2005 after the death of Adela De Los Santos, 73, an extremely ill woman who needed constant care and feeding.

On Tuesday Norma Tanya Infante, 47, of Everett received the nine-month sentence. On the recommendation of deputy prosecutor Janice Albert and Everett defense attorney Brice Howard, Infante will be able to serve her term on electronic home monitoring.

Albert said Infante had a lesser role than others in causing De Los Santos’ death.

Albert told Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman that De Los Santos was “deprived basic necessities of life” while housed at Alice House in Snohomish, a defunct adult care home.

The patient needed constant care, and it was “like having a child to care for.”

At the same time, the facility and staff were not equipped to handle such a case, Albert said.

Infante is the second person to plead guilty.

Earlier, Beth Suzanne Knowles, 31, of Mill Creek pleaded guilty to the same charge and was sentenced to nine months in jail.

Manslaughter and mistreatment charges against a third employee of Alice House, Eddie Lee Smith, 44, of Snohomish, were dismissed Tuesday. Albert told the judge that she would not be able to prove how much responsibility Smith had for caring for De Los Santos.

All three worked at the now-closed Alice House, one of 10 similar businesses once operated in Snohomish County by Michael Goodwill and Goodwill Care Inc. Nurse assistant licenses of Infante, Knowles and Smith have either lapsed or have been revoked, state officials said.

The state closed down Alice House not long after De Los Santos died. A state Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman said that Goodwill has sold the other nine businesses.

De Los Santos, who was plagued with mental and physical health problems, was admitted to a hospital in November 2002. She was in a coma, had a 105-degree temperature and her breathing was labored, according to court documents.

The emergency room doctor said lack of medication, plus not receiving liquids and food, had put her into a coma and caused her kidneys to fail. She died a few days later.

Goodwill was not charged with a crime. De Los Santos’ family filed a civil lawsuit and settled with Goodwill in 2005 for $400,000, documents said.

Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.