Attorney General to decide if Atria Senior Living will be charged with poisoning death

The California Attorney General can now decide whether a Bay Area nursing home provider will be charged in connection with the poisoning of three elderly people in their care.

Two seniors died last August at Atria Senior Living in San Mateo, and a third died at the Walnut Creek premises after patients drank cleaning solution.

Latishia Sheris Starling, 54, appeared in Contra Costa County Court on charges of elder abuse resulting in death.

Konstantin Kanun, a 94-year-old nursing home patient with dementia, died last August after drinking a cleaning solution at an apartment complex in Walnut Creek. But Kanun’s family said that the fine should be for the object, not for the worker.

“I want her to know that the family doesn’t blame her, that the family believes the corporation should be held accountable, and that you know she did her best given the circumstances and the resources she had at her disposal,” Katherine said. Stebner, lawyer for the Kanun family.

Now the Kanun family can fulfill at least part of their wish. Prosecutor Mary Knox said California Attorney General Rob Bonta is currently considering filing charges against Atria Senior Living.

“Both the Walnut Creek Atria case and the San Mateo Atria case went to this prosecutor’s office or possibly against Atria itself,” Knox said.

Three other dementia patients at Atria Senior Living in San Mateo were poisoned days after Eve when the company said employees accidentally served a cleaning solution they mistook for fruit juice. Two residents died from poisoning.

“The safety of our seniors depends on whether companies like Atria are held accountable to either the Justice Department or the Attorney General,” Stebner said.

The Kanun family’s lawyer says they hope Bonta will do the right thing and bring Atria to justice.

Meanwhile, a Contra Costa County judge will decide if there is enough evidence to try a Walnut Creek worker.

“We will move forward with this prosecution and hopefully come to a fair and just resolution,” Knox said.

NBC Bay Area reached out to Atria for comment on Friday’s events, but they did not respond.

Starling’s preliminary hearing will take place on April 7.