A Jacksonville man who destroyed two gravesites at Restlawn Memorial Park pleaded guilty last week to two felony counts of injuring or removing a tomb or monument and was sentenced to jail time.
Michael Gainer Jr., 21, was convicted of defacing the tombstones of Darryl Lundy Jr., who died at 17, and Dari’one Flanigan, who died at 18. The incident happened in August, but Gainer Jr. wasn’t arrested until November.
Recommended Videos
Gainer Jr. was a suspect because of his social media activity.
According to his arrest report, the mothers of both victims received a screenshot via text of their son’s tombstones being destroyed. A video showed Gainer Jr. spitting, urinating, and damaging Lundy Jr.’s tombstone with a rock. There was also a live stream of Gainer Jr. admitting to destroying the gravesites, according to JSO.
Lundy Jr. and Flanigan are cousins who were both killed by gun violence just a few years apart.
For months, the mothers of the teens were furious waiting to find out who could have done this to the graves. The family is still seeking justice for both of the teens' killings and felt the destruction of their gravesites ripped open a wound.
Flanigan’s mother Vonette Nixon told News4JAX reporter Briana Brownlee that even though her son’s case is still cold, knowing the man responsible for destroying his grave is behind bars gives her a little bit of closure.
The family was able to repair both graves.
Flanigan was killed back in the summer of 2019 while in a car with a friend at a BP gas station located on North Main Street in Jacksonville. Bullets filled the air that day and even though Flanigan wasn’t the target, he was the one killed, along with all of his hopes and aspirations of becoming a music artist, a dream he had since he was 8 years old.
Three years after Flanigan was killed, his younger cousin Lundy Jr. met the same fate. Just like his cousin, his case is still open.
Gainer Jr. originally pled not guilty but later changed his plea and is now convicted on two felony counts. He is expected to serve 9 months in jail, 3 and a half years of probation, and 300 hours of community service cleaning graveyards.
