Articles Posted in Funeral Home Negligence

To put it mildly, Roy Williams is a man in a lot of trouble – as he should be. According to an article in the St. Louis Post Dispatch. Williams, now a former mortician, is accused of shoddy embalming and fraud. Williams, over the last 20 months, has also been stripped of his business and professional licenses, the newspaper article says.

Williams’ funeral home in Alton, Missouri, first drew attention in October 2005 when the family of Lloyd White complained that the man had “mishandled White’s remains.” The family told police that White was not wearing the clothes the family had brought for him to be buried in and that his body was placed inside the casket, wrapped in nothing but a bloody sheet.

Then, last June, Williams was sued by a casket selling company alleging that Williams hadn’t paid the $3,000 he owed them. A judge in August ordered Williams to pay the amount with interest after he never responded to the suit. Then this month, the Illinois Comptroller’s Office filed a petition in Madison County Circuit Court seeking to appoint a temporary administrator to recoup some of the money paid by clients to Williams, the newspaper article said.
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A resident in Amarillo, Texas, has filed a lawsuit against the city of Lubbock Cemetery, alleging that the grave marker indicating her infant daughter’s burial site has been moved and that she doesn’t know if or where her daughter’s body has been moved, according to an article in theDaily Toreador.

Connie Sanders purchased a burial plot at the city-run cemetery in the early 1970s to bury the little girl in an area of the park called “Baby Land.” Sanders has since moved away from Lubbock and became concerned when she heard about problems at the cemetery and a prior lawsuit they’re facing. So she decided to check it out for herself. Sure enough, when she came to Lubbock to visit the burial site, the marker was gone. Sanders’ attorney told the newspaper that the only information the city has provided is a card-like filing system that acknowledges that the girl was buried somewhere in the cemetery. But there is absolutely no physical proof, no marker.

Sanders’ attorney has been contacted by other families whose loved ones were buried at that cemetery, but this is his first case regarding Baby Land, he told the newspaper. The city meanwhile says it will vigorously defend the lawsuits. The cemetery holds more than 400 funerals a year. So far, six other plaintiffs have filed suit against the cemetery making similar allegations. Sanders is filing for monetary compensation seeking damages for the emotional pain and suffering they are experiencing. Her attorney says the city cannot provide any other relief at this point.
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