Left Without Care: Preventable Nursing Home Deaths in Riverside County

Nursing Home Law Group, including attorneys Sandy Horowitz and Lukas Pick, has spent more than 30 years suing nursing homes in California, and we represent families throughout Riverside County. If your elderly parent died because a facility failed to give them the care they needed, a Riverside County nursing home neglect lawyer from our firm can help you pursue accountability.

Passive neglect and willful deprivation are more common than most families expect. These deaths are preventable, and they often stem from understaffing or, in worse cases, intentional neglect. Whether a resident died of an untreated infection, a missed medication, or an unaddressed injury, a facility can be liable whether or not a staff member acted on purpose.

Does it matter if the neglect was intentional? It matters to the type of claim. Willful or reckless neglect may allow additional remedies under California's elder abuse laws, but ordinary negligence can still support a claim.

1. Infections nobody monitored. If staff don't watch for changes, an infection may be found only when it is too late for hospital treatment to help.
2. Care knowingly withheld. Staff sometimes knowingly leave residents without needed medications, medical devices, or treatment. Frequently because staff members are overworked or undertrained.
3. Residents who wander. We represented a family where their father, who suffered from advanced dementia, wandered away from his Riverside assisted living and walked two miles before being struck and killed by a car.

Our attorneys investigate staffing records, medical documentation, and facility policies. We have also handled many resident transfer injury cases, where a resident is injured during a move and then does not receive adequate follow-up care. We explain each step in plain language, so you always know where your case stands.

Attorney Randy Walton is an AV Preeminent rated attorney by Martindale-Hubbell, a distinction signifying the highest level of professional excellence and ethical standards. For his work in personal injury, he has been named to the Super Lawyers list for 12 consecutive years (2014–2026) and was recently selected for the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Cases that go to court are filed in Riverside County Superior Court and follow its local rules as well as state procedure. Injury and neglect cases involving Riverside County nursing homes and assisted living communities are filed in the Riverside County Superior Court, which operates courthouses in Riverside (including the Historic Courthouse), Banning, Blythe, Corona, Indio, Menifee, Moreno Valley, Murrieta, and Palm Springs. Which courthouse hears a particular case depends on the type of case and where the facility or the parties are located, and filing locations can change, so it is important to confirm the right courthouse before filing. Our attorneys handle those details for our clients.

If a surviving resident is 70 or older and in poor health, California law allows a request for trial preference under Code of Civil Procedure section 36, which can move a trial date forward.

A resident with dementia leaves a Riverside County facility during a hot afternoon and is not found for hours. We would request the facility's supervision and elopement-risk documentation, door alarm logs, and staffing schedules, and we would file in Riverside County Superior Court if a fair resolution can't be reached.

What does a nursing home owe its residents? A legal duty of care to every resident, regardless of health needs or level of dependency.

If your loved one was left to die in a Riverside County facility, you don't have to face this alone. Contact Nursing Home Law Group for a free, confidential consultation with a Riverside County nursing home neglect lawyer.