live from downtown Detroit local 4 News
at 11 starts now good evening off the
top decomposing remains and deplorable
conditions just a few of the violations
that led the state inspectors shutting
down the Cantrell Funeral Home on Mac in
Detroit and tonight we're asking the
funeral home zone or how this could ever
happen at what point did you talk to
your certified mortician about what she
was doing right or wrong I haven't and
don't you think you should have at this
point that would have been one all right
let's get right to germ on teri on
Detroit's east side and germ on a lot of
devastated families impacted from all of
us you're exactly right Kimberly what
the state claims was happening at this
funeral home has so many people shaking
their heads now the state claims that
bodies were stored in the garage not to
mention just on open tables now this is
especially hard for the families who had
services scheduled here at Cantrell not
to mention those families and loved ones
who thought that their family members
were buried or stored properly with
State Police standing guard caskets were
rolled out of the Kentrell funeral home
the bodies were removed and loaded into
hearses all of the bodies taken to a
cleaner facility instead of the de for
the one the state's revoked the license
from Yolanda Brewer is one of many who
rushed to East Mac so I can see where
they take it myself she watched as
stacks of unlabeled cremated remains
were willed from the back door not to
mention those caskets
Yolanda held her sister's funeral
service at Cantrell in January but could
not afford to pay a full burial upfront
hold the body here and a cooler until we
could pay the rest of the money
she showed me receipts and paperwork of
how she worked on the payment plan with
the owner Raymond Cantrell every time I
talk to him he says she's okay but now
that I hear this I don't know what's
going on when the states went in
originally they found decomposing body
stored in an unrefrigerated garage and a
filthy back room then a pop up
inspection today discovered 20 bodies
seven were in caskets
whirring cremation containers and ten
were just sitting on tables many were
there for months decomposing and her
body might be one of the ones that must
up it is a shock to me while cantriel
denies most of the violations he agrees
on one thing were you in fact storing
bodies in the garage oh yes so that we
wouldn't have an aroma filling up the
funeral home it's that proper procedure
to store things and well if I if I had
them in the funeral home then my funeral
home will not smell fresh
Cantrell insisting he was only helping
grieving families out Yolanda doesn't
view this as help at all this is crazy
I ain't never done like this in my life
and he just made me get the wrong
understanding from the beginning you can
just feel your lawn Despain tonight now
we should point out there's another
aspect to the story we mentioned people
who had services scheduled here their
loved ones were taken away they spent
most of the night trying to call around
figuring out where their family members
are and the services in the middle of
their grief they now have to reschedule
services as they try to track down the
families a lot to sort out but that's
the very latest here tonight for now
reporting live on the east side on Mac
I'm Jeremiah Terry
local 4 did your mom I'm wondering is it
common or even legal for that matter for
funeral homes to store a body for months
for any reason well Kimberly that is a
question I talked to one of our legal
experts about they can store the body
but those bodies must one be embalmed
and properly stored in the refrigerated
area the allegations here they were in
the garage unrefrigerated and as you
heard Bentley decomposing so what the
state says was going on here should
never have happened so tough for those
families all right come on