Motel Guest’s Death Blamed on Diabetes

A 46-year-old woman found unconscious inside a motel bathroom apparently died because of complications from diabetes and not suspicious circumstances as police originally suspected.

Lupe Sullivan, a transient, was found about 11 a.m. Monday by a maid at a motel in the 600 block of East Hueneme Road, said Port Hueneme Police Sgt. Ken Dobbe.

She died shortly after 2 a.m. Tuesday in the intensive care unit at St. John’s Regional Medical Center in Oxnard, authorities said.

Sullivan’s husband, John Sullivan, 48, was not at the motel when his wife was found but was arrested about 7 a.m. Tuesday at an Oxnard soup kitchen and was held by police before being released about 2 p.m. the same day.

Dobbe said that what appeared to be bruising on Sullivan’s neck and face and some dried blood found in the bathroom led officers to believe she may have been assaulted.

Senior Deputy Coroner Craig Stevens said the bruising was actually skin discolorations linked to an untreated infection possibly caused by the diabetes.

“They [marks on the skin] could have easily been mistaken by anybody as bruises,” he said.

Stevens said an official cause of death will be released in a couple of weeks following lab tests to determine the nature of the infection.

After an autopsy Tuesday, the cause appears to be related to the diabetes, he said.

Dobbe said Lupe Sullivan checked into the motel a week ago after having an argument with her husband. She was supposed to be giving herself two shots of insulin a day, but it appeared she hadn’t taken the medication for at least three days before her death.

In addition to her husband, Sullivan is survived by a daughter, two sisters and a brother, who all live in Oxnard.