After a Montgomery County court entered a default judgment against La Familia Assisted Living, a jury awarded $4 million to the family of Nyakno Udo, a 45-year-old woman with severe mental illness who died of hypothermia three days after escaping through a first-floor window at the facility in Rockville. Udo's body was found less than 100 feet from the facility, discovered by a neighbor after several inches of snow had fallen.
The verdict, handed down following a two-day jury trial on damages, included $1.5 million awarded to Udo's mother's estate and $1.25 million to each of her two sisters, according to the Maryland Daily Record. The Montgomery County Circuit Court entered the judgment by default after facility operator Nurys Diaz did not participate in the lawsuit. Proof of liability was required at the damages hearing, where the jury determined the amount owed.
Escape Followed a Pattern, Attorney Says
Udo escaped through the window on January 6, 2022, according to the Daily Record's reporting. Chris Smith, a lawyer at Brown & Barron in Baltimore who represented the family, said Udo had escaped from La Familia on two prior occasions and had escaped at least once before moving into the facility. Smith also said Udo had not received her schizophrenia medication in the days before she got out.
Diaz denied that claim about the medication. Speaking in Spanish, she told the outlet that the window had a lock but that Udo was able to force her way through it anyway, and that she had nothing to hide. Diaz said police were called immediately once Udo was discovered missing, and that she did everything she could to find her, calling the situation difficult to prevent and no one's fault.
Search Teams Covered the Area Before Snow Fell
The Montgomery County Police Department said the area where Udo's body was ultimately found had already been searched by first responders and bloodhounds, and that she would have been found had she been there at the time of that search. The snowfall that preceded the discovery of her body came three days after she went missing, on January 9, 2022.
Diaz told the outlet she later closed La Familia because of a drop in residents and revenue. The facility, once located in Rockville, is no longer operating. Diaz said she could not afford a lawyer, which the Daily Record notes is part of why she did not take part in the lawsuit that led to the default judgment against her.
No Insurance, and an Uncollectable Judgment
La Familia Assisted Living carried no liability insurance, and Maryland law at the time did not require assisted living facilities to carry it. A Maryland law that took effect in 2026 now requires licensed facilities to disclose to residents and prospective residents if they are uninsured. Udo's daughters hired collection attorneys, and Smith said they are very unlikely to collect on the judgment; the damages award is also subject to a cap on noneconomic damages under state law.
Nicole Lambdin, another attorney for the family, said the verdict represented more than a legal victory for her clients, calling Udo's death tragic and entirely preventable. Smith said the family hoped the verdict could help change conditions for residents of uninsured assisted living facilities going forward.
Part of a Broader Pattern in Maryland
The case surfaces amid a wider look at unlicensed and under-regulated senior care operations across Maryland. The state's attorney general's office had received 17 referrals involving suspected unlicensed assisted-living operations, with one leading to a criminal indictment and another to a civil case, according to WJLA. Those referrals came from private citizens, Adult Protective Services, fire officials, and state health regulators, the station reported.
In one enforcement action cited by WJLA, authorities raiding an unlicensed assisted-living home in Baltimore in April found 13 seniors living inside.
