Judge Grants $3M to Incapacitated Adult Film Actress’ Mom

A judge has approved a $3 million settlement on behalf of a woman and her daughter, who is a former adult film actress but now-incapacitated, against the Malibu rehabilitation center where her offspring allegedly was left in a vegetative state in 2024 because oxygen to her brain was curtailed.

Santa Monica Superior Court Judge Susan Bryant-Deason gave her nod to the accord involving defendant Summit Malibu after attorneys for Yesenia Lara Cooper, mother of Litzy Lara Banuelos, accepted a reduction in their requested fees to be deducted out of the settlement from $1.2 million to $1 million. Banuelos was addicted to ketamine and previously had a failed stint in a drug rehabilitation facility, according to her attorneys’ court papers. Both she and her mother were plaintiffs in the case.

A judge’s approval of the settlement was needed because Banuelos is incapacitated.

In a previous sworn declaration in support of the lawsuit resolution, plaintiffs’ attorney James A. Morris Jr. said hard work was involved in reaching the accord.

“Having lived and breathed this case for nearly two years, I can state with confidence that Ms. Banuelos is significantly injured, but that this case was no slam dunk,” Morris said. “No one knows what exactly happened to Ms. Banuelos or whether defendants could have done anything different to prevent the injuries from happening, given Ms. Banuelos’ fragile state as a ketamine addict when she entered their facility.” 

The lack of oxygen to Banuelos’ brain has caused an anoxic brain injury from which she will never recover, according to Morris, who further says that she cannot move her body and is “effectively frozen.” She sometimes opens her eyes, but does not always track movements, and she occasionally grunts, according to Morris.

At one point specialists offered the theory that a latent infection Willis could have possibly gotten while in the adult film industry may have caused her health issues, Morris says.

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 a hospital despite the young woman’s refusal, 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. 

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Judge Grants $3M to Incapacitated Adult Film Actress’ Mom

 

'She was my best friend:' Daughter's claims after mother's death prompts state investigation

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Cumberland County woman is in search of answers after she said her mother's death at a rehabilitation center could have been prevented.

In early January, Susan Bullock's 70-year-old mother, Elizabeth Cook, was admitted to Carolina Rehab Center of Cumberland in Fayetteville to "get her health back up."

Bullock, however, had no idea just nine days later her mother would be dead.

According to Bullock, the facility waited too long to notify her that her mother fell out of the bed.

"She would still be here today had they contacted us," Bullock said. "I just don't understand how somebody makes a fall out of the bed ... and ends up like that."

Bullock's claims led to an investigation by the North Carolina Department of Health & Human Services. The agency's findings show Carolina Rehab failed to notify Bullock or other family members of Cook's fall in a timely manner.

It took staffers more than two hours to contact Bullock.

"They did not treat her," Bullock said. "I asked for all kinds of tests."

Bullock alleged that the center failed to provide adequate care by way of neglect and abuse. The state investigation determined those claims were unfounded.

"I asked (the facility) is this how you guys treat every elderly person in here," Bullock told ABC11. "Their excuse was that they've had several people quit."

The investigation also detailed that the center addressed or planned to address inadequacies brought forth by the state.

"She was my best friend," Bullock said of her mother.

The official cause of death as listed on Cook's death certificate lists "healthcare-associated pneumonia" and "COPD." Bullock said before her mother's admittance into the facility, doctors gave Cook a "clean bill of health."

In a statement to ABC11, Carolina Rehab Center of Cumberland wrote, "Privacy laws prohibit us from addressing the specific allegations. We do think it is important to separate opinions from facts. We fully investigate concerns when they are brought to our attention. We stand by our commitment to our patients and take great pride in the care we provide."

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'She was my best friend:' Daughter's claims after mother's death prompts state investigation