JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A former Jacksonville funeral home director accused in a disturbing case pleaded not guilty Tuesday to two counts of false insurance claims, two counts of grand theft and one count of petty theft.
Elliott Maurice Graham, who was arrested in February, is accused of abandoning a mortuary and leaving bodies inside.
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Graham’s attorney has filed a motion to reduce his bond, and during Tuesday’s arraignment, a witness testified via Zoom from Orlando that he and Graham have been friends for 40 years and that he helped Graham turn himself in to authorities. The witness was called to verify that the facts in the bond motion about how Graham turned himself in were correct.
The state will argue against the motion during a hearing Thursday.
According to Graham’s arrest warrant, state investigators entered the funeral home on Jan. 30, after spending weeks trying to get in touch with him for an inspection. Inside, they said they found three decomposing bodies infested with bugs.
Graham is also accused of stealing up to $750 from a foundation that helps grieving families pay for a child’s funeral costs.
Five misdemeanor counts of improper preservation of a human body have been dropped against Graham.
In February, the I-TEAM spoke with Danielle Streater whose loved one’s embalming was botched by Graham.
“It was an unforgettable smell, basically it was the smell of a decomposing body,” Streater said.
Others told us Graham didn’t provide services that had been pre-paid, or he mishandled their loved one’s remains. A few weeks ago, Dale Williams said he had been waiting for more than a year to receive his father’s ashes.
“I don’t know where my father’s body is. This is crazy. It’s like being in limbo,” Williams said.
The case has prompted proposed changes to state law that would give investigators the ability to enter and secure funeral facilities in an emergency -- like when it’s been abandoned.
“So the legislature saw this and now that gives us the ability when we do get a complaint and there’s a funeral home for some reason or another that is unoccupied or doesn’t have power, we can go in and act upon it immediately,” Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis said. “And we’ve increased the penalties that if these bad actors are operating in a way that is not in the best interest of Floridians, then we’ve got more teeth to put them behind bars.”
The bill has passed both the House and the Senate.