Compton Woman Considers Lawsuit Over Cemetery's Deplorable Conditions
COMPTON (CBSLA) -- A Compton woman is considering a lawsuit against a local cemetery charging that the facility is in shambles.
She said the final resting place for her loved ones is in deplorable shape.
CBS2/KCAL9 reporter Dave Lopez spoke to the woman and the owner of the Angeles Abbey Cemetery.
Lopez said the cemetery was first opened in 1925 and has historical significance for the community.
But one woman questions why the mausoleum where her brother is laid to rest is always locked.
On Thursday, Meme Bruton wanted some answers.
She has trouble hiding her disgust with the management of the facility.
The cemetery is supposed to be open during regular business hours. But Lopez found a chain lock on the door of every mausoleum at noon.
Bruton, accompanied by two friends, blamed if all on Oscar Olivos.
He explained to Lopez why the buildings were locked up tight.
"If we leave them open," he said, "we have homeless that go in there. We have people who have sex and drugs in the building."
In the cemetery, Lopez asked?
"Yes sir," he said.
Olivos owns and operates the cemetery. His answer didn't sit well with Bruton.
"I don't believe that," she said, "the sex and all that. I believe it is poor management, mishandling of our loved ones bodies."
Olivos told her every time she wants to visit her brother's resting place someone will have to open the door. And that's what he did inside.
Once inside, there were more complaints.
"There are no lights in here," said Olivos, "the electricity does not work."
Along the walls where there were crypts, there were ladders and tarps. Olivos conceded they were doing some work on the interior of the building.
"Can you promise that this will be fixed?" Lopez asked.
"We will clean this up," Olivos said, "I'm not sure we can do the lights."
Bruton said her brother's body has been moved and the seal to his tomb hasn't been fixed.
Olivos conceded that the cemetery and mausoleums were in very poor condition. And he said he's doing everything in his power to fix it.
But he said once he starts to fix something he keeps getting sued and his money is going to lawyers.
Bruton said she's tired of the excuses and she's also considering hiring a lawyer.
"And add to the lawsuit," she said.
She also told Lopez she is considering taking her brother's remains, along with other loved ones, and moving them to another cemetery.
And she wants the management at the Angeles Abbey Cemetery to pay for it.
