Maryland Crematorium Faces Multi-Million-Dollar Lawsuit

A Maryland cremation business is facing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit after a state inspection uncovered a series of serious violations earlier this year.

WMAR reports that the lawsuit, filed by attorney Cedric Lewis, accuses Heaven Bound Cremation Services and its owners, Rosa and Brandon Williams, of exploiting grieving families and mishandling remains. The Maryland Board of Morticians has documented multiple complaints and violations involving the business over the years.

“This isn’t a mistake, it’s a scheme,” Lewis said. “I’ve never seen anything like it. You don’t take advantage of people when they’re at their lowest.”

Lewis represents Laura Dorsey, a D.C. resident who turned to Heaven Bound after the death of her husband, Ron, last Thanksgiving. Nearly six months later, she still doesn’t know what happened to his remains.

“He can’t cross over because I don’t have closure,” Dorsey said, holding back tears. “We would have celebrated our 15th anniversary last week. It was the hardest, loneliest anniversary ever. I don’t even have a death certificate.”

Dorsey, like many others from Baltimore to Washington, D.C., was referred to the business through a Department of Human Services voucher program intended to help low-income families cover funeral costs. She only learned of the company’s inspection violations after searching for answers about her husband’s remains.

“To think that this is what happens to people like me, who didn’t have the money, it’s just horrific,” she said.

The lawsuit is not the only legal trouble facing the cremation service. Lewis is also representing another Maryland family who discovered they had received the wrong ashes. Months after their loved one’s death, they were contacted by the state and informed the actual remains were still in state custody, despite having already received cremains from Heaven Bound.

State police are now investigating the business, which was recently shut down by an oversight board.

Maryland Cremation Business Faces Multi-Million-Dollar Lawsuit After Shocking Violations  was originally published on r1wolbbaltimore.staging.go.ione.nyc