In this Friday, Aug. 10, 2012, file photo, James Davis, 73, stands over the grave of his wife, Patsy, in the front yard of the home they shared in Stevenson, Ala. The body has been removed from the yard.STEVENSON, Ala. - The body of an Alabama woman has been removed from a front yard grave after a lengthy court fight.
One of Patsy Davis' daughters burst into tears as the vault containing her body came out of the ground Friday morning.
James Davis says that before she died, he promised to bury his wife at their log cabin home. However, the city sued and he eventually lost his ongoing legal battle to keep her remains there.
A judge this week approved a plan to remove the body.
That process of exhuming the body of Patsy Davis, who died in 2009, began this morning at the Davis home in Stevenson.
James Davis says he now plans to cremate her remains and keep them in the house.