JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law on Thursday in Jacksonville that will give the state more authority to investigate derelict funeral homes.
The law was inspired by an unfortunate situation at Marion Graham Mortuary on Jacksonville’s Northside.
The funeral director there, Elliott Maurice Graham, is accused of abandoning the mortuary with bodies inside and stealing money meant for funerals. He’s now facing 20 criminal charges.
In the lead-up to his arrest, investigators had been getting complaints from customers and they spent weeks trying to get ahold of him at the now-abandoned business.
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When they eventually did get a warrant, they found something inside that was so disturbing it inspired a new state law that will give investigators more leeway to take action in an emergency.
Florida Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, whose office regulates the funeral industry, was at the bill signing.
“Horrible set of circumstances right here in Jacksonville, and our hands were tied,” Patronis said.
Beginning last year, customers of Marion Graham Mortuary started lodging complaints about missing money, missing remains and a funeral director who also appeared to be missing.
Patronis said because the suspected crime of improper preservation of human bodies is a misdemeanor, investigators were only able to get a search warrant because the amount of money suspected mishandled amounted to grand theft, which is a felony.
It took about two days for investigators to get inside after they suspected it was abandoned.
Inside, according to an affidavit, investigators found three decomposing bodies infested with insects from “having been stored in a non-refrigerated or non-air-conditioned facility for an extended period of time.”
“Here you had grieving families that were being disrespected at so many levels and we could not do an immediate action to try to get answers of where the status and updates of their loved ones were,” Patronis said.
Now, a new state law will make it a felony to mishandle remains. It will also allow investigators to immediately enter and secure a funeral home in an emergency, including when it’s abandoned.
“If there’s no electricity on, that’s a red flag, OK. Did they pay their property tax bill? That’s a red flag. So there’s a number of things that we had as indicators. In this particular circumstance, we actually had the loved ones family reach out to us, which triggered it because they weren’t getting their answers,” Patronis said.
Numerous people also told News4JAX earlier this year that the funeral home mishandled their loved ones’ remains.
“It was an unforgettable smell, basically it was the smell of a decomposing body,” Danielle Streater said.
“I don’t where my father’s body is. This is crazy. It’s like being in limbo,” Dale Williams said.
According to an affidavit, the investigation later revealed Graham deposited money he received for pre-paid funerals for nine living customers from 2020 to 2022 into his personal bank account totaling more than $90,000.
Now, Graham is facing charges including five counts of improper preservation of a human body, grand theft, false insurance claims and organized fraud.
“Now we’ve got emergency powers because never should we disrespect the dignity of life of a loved one,” Patronis said.
The new law will go into effect July 1.
Graham is currently in the Duval County Jail and has a pre-trial hearing scheduled for later this month.