A Santa Monica mental-health facility promised to keep Cheyenne Zampino safe. Twelve days later, she was dead.
Now her parents are heading to court.
LaKeisha Washington and David Zampino filed a wrongful-death lawsuit Wednesday against The Manor, the state-licensed care home on Pico Boulevard near Santa Monica College. That’s where their 27-year-old daughter was found murdered in July.
The family is also seeking unspecified damages from the facility operator, California Care Centers, Los Angeles County and Brilliant Corners, the organization they say placed Zampino there.
“We spent ten years trying to get Cheyenne somewhere safe, and the county told us this was it,” Washington said in a statement. “She needed people watching out for her. Nobody was.”
‘She needed people watching out for her’
Zampino — the niece of actress and TV personality Sheree Zampino, Will Smith’s ex-wife — had spent much of her twenties in and out of psychiatric hospitals as she battled schizoaffective disorder, according to her family.
Her parents spent a decade searching for a safe, stable place for her to live. In July, they believed they had found one.
Instead, on July 25, 2026, Zampino was found unresponsive on a bathroom floor. Despite efforts by Santa Monica Fire Department paramedics, she was pronounced dead at the scene.
Taylor Roger Free, 35, of San Luis Obispo, was arrested later that night and charged with murder. He has pleaded not guilty and is presumed innocent.
‘The front door stayed open’
The lawsuit alleges that The Manor was a disaster waiting to happen — and that everyone should have seen it coming.
According to the complaint, the facility’s front entrance was unsecured, with no lock, no front desk, no guard and no one monitoring who came and went. The suit claims non-residents had wandered in before, and that state regulators had previously documented complaints involving intruders, drug activity and assaults at the home.
“The Manor is a facility licensed to house more than a hundred people who cannot protect themselves,” family attorney Omar Qureshi said. “But it isn’t fit for that purpose. For years, state regulators have documented intruders, drug use, and assaults at the facility.”
The suit claims security cameras captured Free entering the building, lingering in a courtyard for several minutes, and later running from the direction of Zampino’s room — allegations that have not been independently verified or tested in court.
“The county decided Cheyenne needed supervision around the clock, then paid a facility that offered none,” Qureshi said. “Anyone who read the licensing file or walked through the front entrance could see how unsupervised The Manor is.”
A facility with a history
The Manor has operated since 1965, providing room, board, care and supervision for adults with mental illness and developmental disabilities.
But neighbors have long complained about the facility, and it has been a frequent source of police calls, according to prior reporting.
The explosive lawsuit claims state licensing files show a resident reported an intruder broke into her room and raped her in 2024, that non-residents had been sleeping overnight in residents’ units, and that investigators substantiated drug dealing inside the facility in 2022.
None of these claims have been independently verified by The Sun.
The Manor, California Care Centers and Brilliant Corners have not publicly responded to the lawsuit’s allegations.
‘Their failure cost my daughter her life’
For the Zampino family, the lawsuit is about more than money — it’s about accountability.
“All we wanted was for her to be somewhere she would be looked after,” David Zampino said. “Their failure to provide any security cost my daughter her life.”
The suit seeks damages for Cheyenne’s death and suffering, plus punitive damages against the private defendants. Punitive damages cannot be sought against a public entity under California law.
Free remains in custody as the criminal case moves forward.
Cheyenne is survived by her parents, her brothers Christian and David John “DJ” Zampino II, her cousin Trey Smith, her aunt Sheree Zampino — and her dog, Jiggy.
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