Kid Crushed By Headstone At Cemetery

[Tsukiyumi]

Source

Parents of boy crushed by headstone sue cemetery
By MARY FLOOD Copyright 2008 Houston Chronicle
Dec. 19, 2008, 5:51PM

The parents of a 2-year-old boy who was crushed to death by a headstone at a funeral last week have filed a lawsuit against the Pearland cemetery.

Giovanni Rodriguez died Dec. 13 when police say a group of children may have been playing on the headstones at the Southpark Funeral Home-Cemetery-Crematory at 1310 North Main in Pearland. The lawsuit alleges the funeral home operator was negligent for not making sure the headstones were more stable.

"Giovanni died shortly before turning three," said John Padilla, the Houston lawyer representing the parents. "To me, it's intuitive. You shouldn't have these headstones around loose."

Padilla said his clients were too distraught to talk about their son's death Friday. He said parents Francisco Rodriguez Cardenas and Maria De Los Angeles Yanez Laura filed the lawsuit Tuesday so the court could make sure evidence was not altered at the cemetery.

"We feel strongly the evidence will show there were numerous other headstones there not affixed to a base. Loose headstones pose an extreme risk to children, older people, even praying people who could reach up and touch one," Padilla said.

John Shipp, the Dallas-based lawyer for the Southpark funeral home and cemetery, said his client works to provide caring, quality service. "We're deeply saddened by this tragic accident and offer the family our sincere condolences," Shipp said on behalf of Southpark, which is a part of Stewart Enterprises Inc.

Shipp would not comment specifically on the death since a lawsuit is pending.

Patty Goolsby, of the Pearland Police Department, said emergency crews were dispatched to the cemetery after receiving a 911 call. Goolsby said the family was at a funeral service and "kids were jumping around on" the headstones nearby.

But Padilla said he has no evidence kids were playing on the headstones. He said the boy did not die at the cemetery, but later from injuries sustained there.

Padilla said he filed the lawsuit under a Texas law which requires reasonable care be taken to make a premises safe. But he said, the United Kingdom and some other European countries have separate laws addressing headstone safety though he didn't find anything like that in the United States.

Donald Burger, a Houston lawyer who lectures on Texas cemetery law, said the state has many regulations about health and safety at cemeteries. "Some are even bizarre like that you can't bury a murderer near his victim if you have notice. But I have not come across cases on headstone liability in Texas," Burger said.

Bob Fells, general counsel for the Virginia-based International Cemetery, Cremation and Funeral Association, said he has seen a few cases involving children harmed by headstones in his 25 years with the group.

He said American privately-owned cemeteries generally have insurance and know that checking headstone stability is part of maintenance. He said cases like this may be won or lost based on the maintenance record and habits of the cemetery involved.

It's tragic, but I have to agree with some of the people who posted responses - a cemetery isn't a playground, and the parents shouldn't have let their 2-year old go running off without supervision during a f***ing funeral.

[Captain Picard's Hair]

It's tragic, but I have to agree with some of the people who posted responses - a cemetery isn't a playground, and the parents shouldn't have let their 2-year old go running off without supervision during a f***ing funeral.

Yeah, my first thought was: where were the parents when this happened?

[Bryan Moore]

This story made me smile far more than it should have

[Tsukiyumi]

Yeah, my first thought was: where were the parents when this happened?

I know it's not quite the same, but if a kid was killed after his parents let him go play on a construction site, I can't see the site getting sued.

Bryan - I know what you mean.

[Teaos]

Hey its america, It rains you sue someone, not really suprised they're doing it over this.

[Reliant121]

tragic, and all the rest of it.

Parents fault for letting their kid play silly buggers in a cemetery.

I don't know why, but i have never been comfortable in cemeteries....I feel....watched....

[kostmayer]

tragic, and all the rest of it.

Parents fault for letting their kid play silly buggers in a cemetery.

I don't know why, but i have never been comfortable in cemeteries....I feel....watched....

Me too, they should bury people face down.

Tragic case, but the children should have been supervised. Will the family of whosever headstone got knocked over sue the childrens parents for dessicating the grave?

[Sionnach Glic]

This is dumb. The parents should have been keeping an eye on them, and maybe not let them play on fucking headstones. It's tragic, but as far as I see it it's the parents fault.

Personaly, this made me think of what happened at my grandmother's funeral when they were puting the coffin in the grave. Her and my mother had had many, shall we say, disagreements over pretty much everything, and it was no secret that granny pretty much hated her. So roll on to the funeral, and everyone's putting flowers into the grave before it's filled in. My mother goes up to the grave, throws one in, and the headstone falls over and breaks her foot. Since then it's always been reffered to as granny getting her own back from beyond the grave.

[Mikey]

Agreed with all and sundry. When and if this case goes to court, the first thing mentioned should be a judge saying, "Why were you letting your son play with someon'es headstone?"

Me too, they should bury people face down.

That's how I want to be buried, so everyone can kiss my...

You know.

[IanKennedy]

I like to think of this as a kinda post-procreation Darwin-award event.

[Mikey]

With our luck, those parents will have another one.

[shran]

Though it was indeedstupid of these people to let their children play unattended, the child in question may not have bothered that much the possibility ofthe stone toppling over. It was an accident, over which the parents probably mae a lot more fuss than you'd think one should make.

Though it may be difficult to imagine, would you worry as a child wether or not those cemetry stones would topple or not? Most probably not, even though you may think so now.

Given, the child and parents could have had the decency to keep the children from playing in a graveyard, but cultural differeces may have allowed these children to play in said graveyard. Different people, different ways of seeing the same thing.

[Mark]

The loss of a child must be devestating, but damn, let the baby's death accomplish SOMETHING, if only to give mom and dad a friggin' wake up call. But consider the source.........I hade the sterotypical overprotective jewish mother. I wasn't even allowed to play sports because I could get hurt. I try REALLY hard not to do that to my kids, but damn it's hard. My oldest daughter loves roller blading (she's 8) and always wears a helmet. I showed up on sunday, and started demanding to know where her elbow pads, knee pads, and mouth guard was. I heard my mother speaking with my voice........scary

[Mikey]

Though it may be difficult to imagine, would you worry as a child wether or not those cemetry stones would topple or not? Most probably not, even though you may think so now.

You're right - kids will be kids. Would I expect my four-year-old daughter to know not to play on or around the headstones at a cemetary? Of course not - that's where my job comes in.

[Sionnach Glic]

Exactly. The whole idea of being a parent is to look after your kids. If you don't want to look after them, then don't have any.
Now, from my point of view, playing and climbing on big heavy slabs of stone or marble that are only shoved a few inches into the dirt qualifies as "stupidly dangerous". Hence, it's a good idea to tell them to stop doing so.