The mother of a now incapacitated former adult film actress has reached a tentative settlement in her lawsuit against the Malibu rehabilitation center where her daughter suffered a heart attack in 2024 that left her in a vegetative state.
Summit Malibu’s attorneys filed court papers on Feb. 24 with Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Mark A. Young notifying him of a “conditional” accord in the case brought by Yesenia Lara Cooper along with the expectation a request for dismissal will be filed by Sept. 1. Cooper is the mother and guardian of plaintiff Litzy Lara Banuelos. No terms were revealed.
Banuelos was known in the industry as Emily Willis. She was a Penthouse Pet of the Month in May 2019 and won multiple Adult Video News awards, including Female Performer of the Year in 2021.
In their previous court papers, Summit Malibu lawyers said Banuelos shared blame for what occurred to her health..
“It is undisputed that during her stay, Litzy had refused to follow medical recommendations and take her medications,” according to the Summit Malibu attorneys’ pleadings. “She refused to go to urgent care or the hospital voluntarily, despite being encouraged to do so by (Summit Malibu).”
While Cooper contended that Summit Malibu should have forced her daughter to go to urgent care or the hospital despite the young woman’s refusal, however, the facility had no authority to do so, according to the rehab center’s lawyers.
Summit Malibu’s attorneys also said there was no evidence of any negligence on the staff’s part regarding Banuelos’ care given that Cooper’s own lawsuit states her daughter was regularly monitored and seen by the staff.
Nonetheless, Cooper alleged Summit Malibu was lax in her daughter’s care. Willis, now 27, 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 in December 2024 stated.
her fault.