PRICHARD, Ala. (WKRG) – A Mobile County family has filed a lawsuit against a funeral director accused of abusing corpses.
Joseph Bonner-Bey was arrested Wednesday after deputies exhumed three graves at Heritage Memorial Gardens in Prichard. Investigators said they found proof of improper burial in two of the graves.
In a lawsuit filed on June 17, 2019, the family of Cindy Darrington accuses Bonner-Bey of negligently and recklessly handling Darrington’s remains in 2017. The lawsuit also alleges family members paid for services that they did not receive.
Darrington was shot and killed in Prichard on December 1, 2017. Her funeral was held a week later on December 9.
Darrington’s grave was not one of the ones exhumed on Wednesday.
Tri-State Mortuary and Community Mortuary are also named in the lawsuit. Bonner-Bey is listed as the President/CEO on the Tri-State Mortuary website. He’s described as amanaging partner of Community Mortuary.
Bonner-Bay was arrested after Wednesday’s cemetery dig and charged with two counts of corpse abuse. He was released on bond Thursday afternoon.
SOURCE: WKRG