Mira Mesa care facility owner charged with elder abuse

A 62-year-old woman who owns an elder care home in Mira Mesa was arrested on suspicion of elder abuse after she was accused of understaffing her facility and leaving residents in soiled diapers for extended periods of time, state prosecutors said Tuesday.

Maria Delgado was charged last week in San Diego Superior Court with two felony counts of elder abuse likely to produce great bodily injury and two misdemeanor counts of elder abuse of residents after an investigation into the living conditions at her business, J & M Happy Guest Home, the California Department of Justice said.

“Our elders deserve care that is safe, dignified, and consistently held to the highest standards,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta said. “When those entrusted with the care of elderly residents fail to live up to these standards and put Californians in harm’s way — we take action.”

Delgado could not be immediately reached for comment Wednesday.

Prosecutors said they filed charges after an investigation found that the facility was understaffed, leading to residents being in bed all day with soiled diapers, sometimes for days at a time, state prosecutors said.

A facility evaluation report filed with the California Department of Health and Human Services Agency said that an investigation at the care home was conducted June 10, 2022, after the state received a complaint concerning residents developing “pressure injuries due to staff neglect.” The facility is licensed to have six residents at a time, but allegedly only had one person on staff per shift and did not check on residents during the night, according to the reports.

Additional investigation reports allege that on Aug. 15, 2022, a resident fell, but the owner was unable to pick them up due to the resident’s weight and being an amputee, one investigation report reads.

Paramedics arrived, got the resident off the floor, and took them to a hospital, where they were later “abandoned” by the facility’s owner, the report reads. The owner evicted the resident a few days later because the resident was a “fall risk,” according to the report.

During visits in 2023 and 2024, state program analysts found that the hot water in the home could reach as high as 150 degrees, which could burn human skin within seconds, according to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. Additionally, Delgado was cited for improperly storing medications and not having liability insurance.

The online record for the business licensee said the state had made 30 visits to the home between 2021 and 2025. J & M Happy Guest Home had received 17 citations for immediate health and safety violations and 26 citations for potential health and safety violations since it was first licensed in 2004.

The criminal complaint alleges that Delgado “took advantage of a position of trust and confidence” and caused harm to at least four people who were “particularly vulnerable.”

Her arraignment hearing is tentatively scheduled for Sept. 17.