MEMPHIS – Relatives of people buried at a Tennessee cemetery are suing its owner and funeral homes that sent bodies there, alleging the cemetery operated without a proper registration and stacked several caskets in one plot.
Meanwhile, a state agency says Galilee Memorial Gardens buried bodies for two years after its registration ran out, as it tried unsuccessfully to get a new one.
A complaint filed Sunday claims Galilee moved bodies without permission, misplaced or lost track of buried remains and stacked multiple caskets in single burial plots – sometimes by crushing caskets to make them fit.
The suit was filed by lawyers for relatives of two people buried at the cemetery in suburban Bartlett, outside Memphis. Two funeral homes that sent bodies to Galilee for burial also are being sued, with plaintiffs alleging they should have been informed that family members were being sent to an unlicensed cemetery.
Cemetery owner Jemar Lambert was arrested Jan. 24 on charges that three bodies were buried in the same grave without permission. He has a court hearing scheduled for Tuesday on charges of abuse of a corpse and theft.