Parents Recover for Misplacement of Daughter's Grave
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Seven-year-old Lanesha Miles died in April of 1999 from cancer.
When her parents, Dorothy and Charles Miles, attempted to visit Lanesha's gravesite (on what would have been the child's eighth birthday) they could not find her grave.
When the parents arrived at the Glennview Cemetery to observe the anniversary of their child's birth, they found that the grave was not marked.
The family took steps to have the grave properly marked and thought that a proper marker had been placed at the grave.
However, when they came to visit again on Christmas Day 2001, they found that someone else's marker stood at the place they thought had been their child's grave.
Lanesha's parents are still unsure where their daughter is buried.
The lawsuit claimed that Lanesha's marker had been flung aside and was moved to another grave within two days after it had been placed. Cemetery employees testified that the marker had lain uprooted for four months. No one informed the parents of this fact.
When the cemetery and the grave monument maker were sued, they blamed each other for the tragedy.
The jury returned a verdict against the cemetery, Glennview Memorial Park, in the amount of $60,000.00 and a verdict of $10,000.00 against the grave monument maker, Joseph Parker.
Judge Ronald Stevens, who presided over the trial in Durham County, ruled that the actions by both companies constituted unfair and deceptive trade practices. Based upon that ruling, the court tripled the verdict in favor of the parents to $210,000.00.
If you or a loved one have a question about burial procedures in North Carolina, please contact us by filling out the Injury Board form provided on this page.