Mother Wins $7 Million After Disabled Son Dies in Hot Car Left by Caretaker Driver

Timothy Cortinas, 51, was a severely disabled adult who lived in a group home and required around-the-clock care. On a day in August 2018, a driver employed by a transportation service was assigned to take him home after a day activity program in West Covina. Instead of completing the trip, the driver, Emanuel Arellano, left Cortinas inside the parked vehicle outside the driver's own home. Temperatures that day reached 110 to 112 degrees. By the time anyone discovered what had happened, Cortinas had died from heat exposure.

Irene Melendez, Cortinas's mother, learned of her son's death from a call by the coroner's office, roughly twelve hours after the fact. Easterseals Southern California, which employed Arellano, confirmed he was no longer with the organization. Melendez filed suit in October 2018 in Los Angeles Superior Court, case number 18STCV00081, naming Arellano, a second individual, Holy Family Children's Care Inc., Easter Seals Southern California Inc., San Gabriel/Pomona Valleys Developmental Services Inc., and St. Philomena Care Homes Inc. as defendants. Her attorneys included Dean Aynechi, who was identified as the family's lawyer in early news coverage, along with Neama Rahmani, co-founder and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers.

The case proceeded to jury trial before Judge Allison L. Westfahl Kong beginning May 3, 2022. The plaintiff's theory centered on the failure of the care and transportation network surrounding Cortinas: a vulnerable adult with no capacity to seek help was placed in a vehicle, left there, and no one with responsibility for his welfare checked on him until it was too late. The jury returned a special verdict finding liability against Holy Family Children's Care and co-defendant Evelyn Pascual, and awarded both compensatory and punitive damages.

Judgment on the special verdict was entered July 28, 2022. The total verdict reached $7 million, comprising $2.25 million in compensatory damages and $4.7 million in punitive damages. The court also awarded Melendez attorney's fees of approximately $960,000 under California's Elder Abuse and Dependent Adult Civil Protection Act, which provides fee-shifting when a defendant's conduct constitutes recklessness, oppression, fraud, or malice toward a dependent adult. The transportation company had settled separately before trial.