Two San Mateo sisters pleaded no contest Monday to felony elder abuse and infliction of great bodily injury in the death of their elderly mother, who died of pneumonia and was found decaying in her own bed and covered in fecal matter, prosecutors said.

Moala Siafoou Tatola, 41, and Tafolosa Haisaane Tatolamahe, 48, were charged after police responded to a report of a dead body in the 1600 block of Third Avenue on March 9, 2013, according to the San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

Sela Tatola, 78, was nude and her lower extremities were “nearly black due to filth and necrotic tissue,” prosecutors said. Gangrene was found throughout the body.

Defense attorney Mitri Hanania described the defendants as committed and loving daughters who worked full time and stepped up to take care of their mother when other family members did not.

The victim did not want to see a doctor, and her daughters should have encouraged her to seek medical treatment, according to Hanania.

“This wasn’t a case where the daughters weren’t cruel to their mother, they were overwhelmed,” Hanania said. “They should have done better, and they acknowledged that they should have done better.”

“They took responsibility, and that’s why they pled,” he added.

The family is Tongan and that may have been a factor in the case, according to Hanania.

“In the Tongan culture, the theme that I heard a lot was that the matriarch in the family is very, very highly respected, so since she was the mother and the matriarch of the family, the daughters were really committed to listening to what the mother’s wishes were,” he said.

The defendants face no more than three years in state prison and are scheduled to return to court  for sentencing on May 12.

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  1. Kuo tali ‘e ha ongo tautehina fefine Tonga ‘i San Mateo ‘a hona tautea ki he hia mamafa ko e ngaahi koviʻi ha vaivai mo fakatupunga ha lavea lahi ki he sinó ʻi he mate ʻa ʻena faʻeé, ʻa ia ne mate ʻi he niumōnia pea maʻu atu kuó ne ʻosi ʻauʻaunga pe ʻi hono mohengá ʻo tokoto pe ʻi heʻene tuʻumamaʻó ko e lau ʻeni ʻa e kau talatalaakí.

    Naʻe fakaʻilo ʻa Moala Siafoʻou Tatola, 41, mo Tafolosā Haisaane Tatola Mahe, 48, hili ia ha ngāue atu ʻa e kau Polisí ki hano līpooti ʻo ha sino ʻi he Poloka 1600 ʻi he Third Avenue ʻi Māʻasi ʻaho 9, 2013, fakatatau ki he San Mateo County District Attorney’s Office.

    Naʻe ʻikai ha vala ʻo Sela Tatola taʻu 78 pea fakaʻau ʻuliʻuli hono nimá mo hono vaʻé koeʻuhī ko e kinohaʻa mo e matangatanga mai ʻa e kakanó ko e lau ia ʻa e kau talatalaakí. Ne pala ʻatā e sinó tuʻunga he taʻe ʻi ai ha totó.

    Ne pehē ʻe he taukapó Mitri Hanania ko e ongo fakaʻiloá ne na faitōnunga pea ko e ongo ʻofefine ʻofa ʻa ia ne na ngāue taimi kakato mo hikiʻi ʻena meʻa kotoa ke tokangaʻi ʻena faʻeé he taimi ne ʻikai tokanga mai ai e toenga e fāmilí.

    Ne ʻikai ke fie sio toketā ʻa e fineʻeikí ia, pea naʻe totonu ke fakalotolahiʻi ʻe he ongo ʻofefiné ia ke ʻave ke faitoʻo, fakatatau ki he lau ʻa Hanania.

    ʻOku ʻikai ko ha keisi ʻeni ʻo ha ongo ʻofefine ne na anga fakamamahi ki heʻena faʻeé, ne na ʻi ha tuʻunga taulofuʻu, ko e lau ia ʻa Hanania. Ne tonu pe ke na fai ha meʻa ne mei sai angé, pea ne na tali ne tonu ke na fai pehē.

    Kuó na fuahia pea ko e ʻuhinga ia ʻena tali e tauteá.

    Ko e fāmilí ko e Tonga pea ʻokú ʻi ai ʻene kaunga e Tonga ʻa e ongo fakaʻiloá ki he keisi ko ʻeni, fakatatau kia Hanania.

    ʻI he ʻulungāanga faka-Tongá, ko e fakamatala kuó u lahi fanongo aí ko e kau mēteliaké pe fineʻeiki ʻoku taki he fāmilí ʻoku fuʻu fakaʻapaʻapaʻi lahi ʻaupito ʻaupito, koeʻuhī ko e faʻē ia pea toe hoko ko e mēteliake ʻo e fāmilí, ne fuʻu fakaongo pe ongo ʻofefiné ki he fakaʻamu ʻena faʻeé, ko ʻene laú ia.

    ʻE ʻikai toe laka hake ʻi he taʻu ʻe tolú ha ngāue pōpula ʻa e ongo fakaʻiloá pea te na foki ki he fakamaauʻangá ke hilifaki hona tauteá ʻi Mē ʻaho 12.