Guilty plea in death of resident at adult-care home in Snohomish
Published 11:05 pm Friday, February 1, 2008
A second employee of a defunct adult-care home pleaded guilty this week to first-degree criminal mistreatment in the 2002 death of an ill, 73-year-old woman.
Norma Tanya Infante, 47, of Everett, is scheduled to be sentenced Feb. 26 by Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Larry McKeeman.
On Wednesday, she admitted taking part in not dispensing food, water and medications to Adela De Los Santos, who was a resident at the Alice House adult-care home in Snohomish.
She is one of three people charged in De Los Santos’ death. Beth Suzanne Knowles, 31, of Mill Creek pleaded guilty to the same charge last year and was sentenced to nine months in jail.
Eddie Lee Smith, 44, of Snohomish remains charged, deputy prosecutor Janice Albert said.
Although Infante pleaded guilty, she told the judge she did so because of the likelihood a jury would find her guilty of a more serious crime.
“I do not believe I am guilty of the crime charged,” she said in court papers.
The prosecutor will recommend a nine-month jail term for Infante, court papers said. The defense is expected to ask the judge to let Infante serve the term on electronic home monitoring, Albert said.
All three worked at the now closed Alice House adult-care facility, one of 10 similar businesses once operated in Snohomish County by Michael Goodwill and Goodwill Care Inc. The nurse assistant licenses of Knowles and Smith have lapsed, and Infante’s has been revoked, according to the state Department of Health Professions Quality Assurance.
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 an Everett hospital in November 2002. She was in a coma and 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.
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.
De Los Santos previously had been in a nursing home and developed “disruptive and aggressive behavior problems,” documents said. De Los Santos went to Alice House after Goodwill assured family members that his facility could handle a dependent adult like her, documents said.
Reporter Jim Haley: 425-339-3447 or jhaley@heraldnet.com.
