A Sacramento jury awarded $110 million to the family of a dementia patient who died of hypothermia after wandering outside a Pocket-area assisted living facility in 2019.
Mildred Hernandez was living at Greenhaven Estates, located at 7548 Greenhaven Drive, when she left the building during the early morning hours of Feb. 12, 2019, according to a lawsuit filed in Sacramento Superior Court in 2020. Around 6 a.m., Hernandez was found outside near an exit door that had automatically locked behind her, preventing her from getting back inside, the lawsuit said.
An autopsy later determined Hernandez died of hypothermia, the lawsuit alleged.
“Mildred Hernandez’s known wandering was not stated in written assessments or reappraisals of her condition, nor was this risk of harm identified or addressed in Mildred Hernandez’ individualized care plan with meaningful interventions to prevent her from harm,” the complaint said.
The judgment was issued against Digitalbridge Group, formerly known as Colony Capital, and Formation Capital, which owned the facility at the time of Hernandez’s death. Neither company immediately responded to emails seeking comment.
“Corporations who reap the profits of operations of facilities like Greenhaven Estates must be held to account when they fail to do their jobs,” said Ed Dudensing, the family’s attorney, in an email. “We are proud to have secured this outcome for the Hernandez family and remain steadfast in advocating for the rights and protections of vulnerable individuals.”
Dudensing said Hernandez’s four adult daughters will receive the $110 million award, which was handed down by Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Galvin.
The facility is now called Spanish Vines Assisted Living and Memory Care, according to its website. An LLC in care of CW Capital Asset Management acquired the property in 2024, according to the Sacramento County Assessor’s Office.
Although Sacramento has triple-digit summers, nighttime temperatures can drop into the 40s — cold enough to cause fatal hypothermia, especially in older adults.
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Theresa Clift is the Regional Watchdog Reporter for The Sacramento Bee. She covered Sacramento City Hall for The Bee from 2018 through 2024. Before joining The Bee, she worked for newspapers in Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin. She grew up in Michigan and graduated with a journalism degree from Central Michigan University.