DAYTON — Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost is suing a Dayton man and a local cemetery association for allegedly failing to deliver gravestones after taking money from customers.
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In the lawsuit filed on Friday, Trevor Bush and the Harrison Township Cemetery Association, operating under the name “Greencastle Cemetery,” are accused of failing to fulfill contracts for headstones sold to the families who bought them.
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Bush and the association allegedly took large upfront payments from customers who ordered headstones. They then told the customers that the headstones wouldn’t be ready for several months, but the orders remained unfilled after the promised delivery dates.
“When consumers inquired about the status of the customized grave markers they had ordered but had not yet received, Defendant Bush would give them excuses for the delay and would assure consumers that their customized grave marker would be finished and installed shortly. Despite these assurances, Defendants still failed to deliver the customized grave markers that consumers ordered,” the lawsuit stated.
“I would love to be able to visit my son’s plot,” Shiela Benson said. “I have not been able to since he’s been buried.”
Benson buried her son Dequan Smith 15 years ago. A year after the service, her family went to the cemetery.
“I went to try to find it, there were no plot numbers. I couldn’t get to the area where his plot was,” Benson said. “I was very upset. I was actually in tears.”
Some customers even requested refunds for the headstones when they weren’t delivered, but Bush and the association failed to give them those.
“I called, no response. So I didn’t know where to go from here. I was lost,” Benson said.
The lawsuit seeks restitution for the customers and civil penalties for violations of the state’s Consumer Sales Practice Act, according to Yost’s office.
“Losing a loved one is hard enough without having to fight to get what you paid for,” Yost said. “Any business that operates so deceptively deserves legal consequences.
News Center 7 has previously covered Greencastle Cemetery, located on Nicholas Road. It had previously been left unkept for years.
In November, a vigil was held by the cemetery’s new owner for families who had family buried there.
News Center 7 was able to track down the new owner of the Greencastle cemetery.
“We understand the concerns of the families, but we also want to reiterate that we are not associated with Trevor Bush,” Dequan Moore, Vice President of Greencastle Cemetery said. “We are committed to restoring Greencastle cemetery.”
Greencastle cemetery is planning an event for the spring for people to come and find where their loved ones are buried.
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