A judge has ruled that the mother of a now incapacitated former adult film actress will have to shore up her lawsuit against the Malibu rehabilitation center where her daughter suffered a heart attack in 2024 that left her in a vegetative state.
Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young heard arguments Wednesday, briefly took the case under submission and later in the day ruled that Yesenia Lara Cooper, the mother and guardian of plaintiff Litzy Lara Banuelos, must provide more details to support her claim for elder/dependent abuse against Summit Malibu. Banuelos was known in the industry as Emily Willis.
“Plaintiffs must allege additional facts to establish that defendants’ care rose to the level of recklessness,” Young wrote while giving Cooper’s attorneys 30 days to file an amended complaint.
Cooper alleges Summit Malibu was negligent in the care of her daughter. Willis, now 26, was at the facility for treatment of a ketamine addiction.
“As a direct and proximate result of (Summit Malibu’s) neglect, abandonment, recklessness and negligence in failing to provide care and treatment for Litzy, she suffered irreversible brain damage and permanent physical and mental incapacity, pain, suffering and emotional distress, among other damages,” the suit filed Dec. 27 states.
However, Summit Malibu attorneys deny Willis was the victim of dependent adult abuse and had asked the judge to dismiss that cause of action.
“The facts reflect that Litzy was monitored regularly by qualified staff and if there was something more that should have been done, it would support negligence over neglect,” the Summit Malibu lawyers wrote in their court papers.
Cooper’s complaint also fails to state what could have been done when Banuelos refused the recommendations of the staff that attended to her during her short stay, according to the facility’s attorneys’ pleadings.