Former Davis Caregiver Sentenced To Life In Prison For Elder Abuse
Following a conviction for contributing to the death of a developmentally challenged man he was paid to care for, Davis resident James Mattos, 53, was, on June 19, sentenced to life sentence for second degree murder, plus 11 more years for theft from an elder.
Mattos had been a paid professional caregiver for 66 year old Cecil Wacholtz. Emergency paramedics discovered Wacholtz in an emaciated and neglected state in Mattos’ trailer in South Davis. Emergency personnel testified at Mattos’ trial that Wacholtz was covered in bedsores and was extremely dehydrated. Wacholtz died in a local hospital two weeks after his rescue from Mattos’ trailer.
Mattos had been paid $2,500 per month by a trust fund established years earlier by Wacholtz’s uncle, but did not properly feed or provide medical care for Wacholtz several witnesses testified at Matto’s trial. Wacholtz’s diet consisted mainly of “liquefied soup.”
Darlene Mattos, James Mattos’ mother, had served Wacholtz as his primary caregiver previously. She pleaded no contest to felony elder abuse charges before her trial began. She was sentenced to three years probation.
Mattos’ attorney had asked the court to have Mattos’ prior child molestation conviction removed from the decision process as to the length of his sentence for the murder. The request was withdrawn before the court handed the sentence down, according to a Davis Enterprise report.
