Kentucky man sues, seeking mom’s body in Jeff funeral home case

Oct. 18—JEFFERSONVILLE — A Kentucky man would not know the place his mother’s physique is following the July raid on Lankford Funeral Dwelling and Household Heart in Jeffersonville.

That is in keeping with a lawsuit filed Oct. 14 in Jefferson Circuit Courtroom in Louisville by plaintiff Ichiro Vance.

The civil go well with is being introduced in opposition to Freedom Mortuary Companies LLC and funeral house director Randy Lankford.

Within the lawsuit Vance mentioned, by way of his legal professional, that his mom died on March 5 and the Jefferson County, Kentucky coroner advised using Lankford Funeral Dwelling and Household Heart for burial providers.

Greater than seven months later “plaintiff is unaware as to the whereabouts of his mom’s physique and/or stays,” the lawsuit says.

In response to the criticism, Lankford Funeral Dwelling and Household Heart retrieved Vance’s mom’s physique from Kentucky and introduced it to Jeffersonville for burial providers.

In July, the funeral house was raided by Clark County authorities after folks close by complained of a odor.

The lawsuit claims Lankford has violated Kentucky’s abuse of a corpse regulation and that the plaintiff “has sustained vital emotional ache and struggling all as a direct results of the Defendant’s abuse of his mom’s corpse pursuant to statute.”

Kentucky regulation states “An individual is responsible of abuse of a corpse when besides as licensed by regulation he deliberately treats a corpse in a manner that will outrage atypical household sensibilities. An individual shall even be responsible of abuse of a corpse if that particular person enters right into a contract and accepts remuneration for the preparation of a corpse for burial or the burial or cremation of a corpse after which intentionally fails to organize, bury, or cremate that corpse in accordance with that contract.”

Indiana’s legal guidelines are totally different. The state’s abuse of a corpse statute would not apply to a funeral director or embalmer. It does apply to an individual who knowingly or deliberately mutilates a corpse, has sexual activity or sexual deviant conduct with a corpse or opens a casket with the intent to commit a type of acts.

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Vance’s lawsuit additionally alleges negligence, intentional infliction of emotional misery and a violation of the Kentucky Client Safety Act.

“The Defendants conduct represents clear violations of the Kentucky Client Safety Act because the Defendants fraudulently or deceptively schemed to just accept remuneration and didn’t eliminate the physique of Jennie Chiba in accordance with the phrases of the contract,” the lawsuit says.

Late final month one other household filed a lawsuit in opposition to Lankford Funeral Dwelling and Household Heart, claiming in addition they did not have their cherished one’s stays.

Plaintiffs Michael and Jason Rasmovich allege in a criticism filed on Sept. 30 in Clark County that Lankford advised them he’d “carried out customary and applicable funerary providers for the stays of their cherished one, the deceased.”

The criticism states that did not occur.

As a substitute the deceased, “was left to rot on the funeral house, together with not less than 30 different human our bodies. So far, these funerary providers haven’t been supplied, together with, however not restricted to, the cremation of the stays of (the deceased) and the availability of a funerary urn,” plaintiffs state within the criticism.

Different households on this case have advised the Information and Tribune it is taken time for them to get the stays of family members again.

Lankford can be dealing with legal prices within the case, together with theft, out of Clark County. Clark County Prosecutor Jeremy Mull mentioned extra prices are coming within the case.

He’s presently being held within the Clark County Jail and has been in custody since August.

In response to courtroom paperwork, a change of venue listening to is ready for Nov. 22 in a number of of Lankford’s civil circumstances.

His legal professional argues he cannot get a good trial in Clark County and is asking to have it held in Scott County as a substitute.