Families ponder why, how, what bodies desecrated at Galilee cemetery

Jan. 30--Disrespectful and betrayal.

Over and over, Tina Lambert repeated those two words in describing her perception of what was done to her sister's body and what could have been done with another sister's body at Galilee Memorial Gardens.

"You put them in a place, you want to go visit the gravesite," Lambert said. "To me, it's just disrespectful."

Lambert's family has joined others throughout Greater Memphis and beyond in wondering why someone would stack bodies in graves and to what extent their loved ones are among those caught up in freakish scene unraveling at the Bartlett cemetery. Unlike most families, though, Lambert's has at least one certain answer: one of her sisters was forced into a grave with two strangers.

Gladys Finley, who died in February 2013, is one of three bodies found in a single grave in March. The discovery sparked an investigation into operations at the cemetery, which led to charges against owner Jemar Lambert, 38, of theft of property over $1,000 and abuse of a corpse.

Tina Lambert, who lives in Houston and is not related to Jemar Lambert, said Signature Funeral Services director called her only living sister, Pam, in Detroit and delivered the news: Finley was found in a grave sandwiched between Kathleen Cross and William Davis, who was found on top.

"We don't even know these people," she said. "So we wouldn't want no one in the same grave with her."

Finley, 55, was hit by a car in 2011, which broke all of her bones and left her bedridden for 18 months. The family thought she was now at peace.

"It's like heartbreak all over again," Tina Lambert said.

It's not just Finley they are still grieving again. Her other sister Doris Lambert, who was 51 when she died in December 2002, was also buried at Galilee.

"Is she part of this, too?" Finley asked. "Or is she out there? ... Is she in her casket? You don't know what they were doing with those bodies."

Other than grief, the families say their emotions have cascaded from fear to anger. They anguish over whether their loved one's body suffered after the burial, and that someone would desecrate their graves and that no one was ensuring it wouldn't happen.

Clifton Parker, whose 27-year-old son, Terrance Covington, was murdered in July, said R.S. Lewis Funeral Home told him Galilee "was a good place." Parker said he didn't like the interactions with workers at the cemetery but went through with the plans because a decision had to be made quickly.

"You lose somebody, and everybody is asking for money," Parker said. "And you just can't think right."

Parker wondered, too, if his son was in the $1,300 casket his family purchased. They even scraped together the $450 needed up front for the grave marker, paid in July, but the head stone was never placed. When Parker last checked three weeks ago, the gravestone was sitting next to the main building.

The funeral home has also called to ask for the $900 remaining on the funeral costs. But Parker is balking at the request. "Not until I find out what's going on," he said, adding that, if necessary, he can find a shovel and start digging to confirm whether his son is buried is in the right casket and plot.

For now, families report they have not received many answers from the Tennessee Commerce and Insurance agency, where relatives are told to call.

Pareisha Johnson, 26, said she had gotten a busy signal until Tuesday.

"The lady sent me to a voice message," she said. "I haven't heard back.

Johnson said she intended to visit her grandmother Thursday for her birthday, but the cemetery is closed with crime scene tape surrounding it.

As sure as families want to know which graves were disturbed, they also want to visit the ones that not affected.

Felicia Fowler, whose sister, LaQuisha, died 10 years ago, had planned to visit her sister's grave this weekend.

"It's not something that's planned," she said. "We all (family and friends) go at our leisure ... before sundown. By nightfall, you can tell who's been out there by the flowers and stuff."

Fowler said she insisted her sister's grave be covered before she left because it just felt right. But she doesn't think her sister is part of the current malfeasance.

"We dealt with the Senior Mr. Lambert, who was fabulous," she said. "Mr. Lambert was so nice and so accommodating and to see what was his life's work and this is what his son has done, it's just unfortunate."

Jesse Lambert, the original owner of the cemetery, died in May 2010. It's unknown whether the cemetery problems began under his watch or under his son's, but the customers he dealt with spoke highly of the father.

"He always said he thought of us like family," said Tina Lambert, whose voice began to quiver as she questioned why Jemar Lambert desecrated Gladys' grave.

She said Jesse Lambert might have had more morals than his son.

"It sounds like he don't have any principles, because if you had some principles, you wouldn't do what you were doing and you wouldn't have ever been so disrespectful with someone's loved one's body. They've entrusted you and you turn around and betray... It's betrayal and disrespectful."

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