Residents Poisoned At SMC Retirement Home, Killing 2, Woman Sentenced To 40 Days In Jail: Prosecutors

REDWOOD CITY, CA — An East Palo Alto woman was sentenced to 40 days in jail Friday after she said she accidentally put toxic cleaning fluid in a pitcher that was served to residents instead of juice, prosecutors said.

Alisia Rivera Mendoza, 36, pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse, according to San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe.

On Aug. 27, 2022, Mendoza poured toxic cleaning fluid into a pitcher at Atria Assisted Living Facility at 2883 S. Norfolk St. in San Mateo. Mendoza said she intended to use the pitcher to clean the kitchen after breakfast but another employee poured the pitcher into three residents' glasses, the SMC DA's office said.

Two residents, Gertrude Maxwell, 93, and Peter Schroeder, 93, died as a result and another resident, Richard Fong, was hospitalized, prosecutors said.

Mendoza was sentenced to 40 days in jail, 350 hours of community service, two years of supervised probation, and is banned from working in nursing homes and care facilities, prosecutors said.