DETROIT (WWJ) - The state has handed down heavy penalties to a Detroit funeral home that had deplorable conditions, failed to store bodies properly and hid remains in a false ceiling.
In late October, the state issued final orders revoking the licenses of Cantrell Funeral Home and its last known director, Raymond Cantrell II for at least 10 years, and its last known manager, Jameca Boone, for at least three years.
The facility was also ordered to pay a $115,000 administrative fine, while Cantrell and Boone are required to each pay half of the $11,480 it cost the state to store bodies and cremated remains pending their final resting places.
Cantrell Funeral Home, located on Mack Avenue near Cadillac Boulevard, was shut down and had its mortuary license suspended in April 2018 after inspectors found deplorable conditions, including decomposing embalmed bodies that were covered in mold and had been stored in an unrefrigerated garage for at least five months.
In October 2018, authorities received an anonymous letter that led to more disturbing discoveries at the funeral home. The remains of 10 fetuses and an infant were being stored in a false ceiling of the shuttered business, where the cremated remains of four people were also located. By then, the building had changed hands via foreclosure due to unpaid property taxes, according to the state.
In all, nearly 300 unclaimed adult, infant and fetal remains were recovered from Cantrell Funeral Home.
Separately, the funeral home was also operating with an expired prepaid funeral and cemetery sales registration. The state says thousands of dollars for prepaid funeral goods or services were not properly deposited with an authorized escrow agent. This part of the investigation remains ongoing.
