The back side of a mausoleum is seen at the Sunset Memorial Gardens on Monday.CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Patricia Daugherty visited Sunset Memorial Gardens about six months ago, and she didn’t like what she saw.
She and her husband, Robert, own a pair of plots at the mausoleum, and on this day Daugherty brought some friends who were interested in making a similar purchase. But inside, Daugherty said, she found a deteriorated building.
She said she saw broken glass, dead birds and a carpet soiled with mud and animal droppings. And then there was the stench. Standing inside felt unbearable, she said, her senses overcome with the smell of something rotting.
Last week, Daugherty was one of about 50 Cleveland residents to attend a public forum about Sunset Memorial Gardens and Hilcrest Memorial Gardens, both owned by Cecil Lawrence Inc. in Dallas, Ga.
The district attorney’s office hosted the forum to gauge how the community felt about the mausoleums and graveyards, and to see how many people would share their stories should prosecutors bring the company before Chancellor Jerri Bryant.