Two indicted for leaving body in funeral home storage room for 3 years

(SPARTANBURG, S.C.) - Aug. 27, 2018 - South Carolina Attorney General Alan Wilson announces the Spartanburg County Grand Jury has returned indictments against two men in connection with a decomposed body found at Family First Funeral Home in Spartanburg.

Lawrence Robert Meadows and Roderick Mitchell Cummings were indicted Friday, August 24, 2018, on separate counts of Desecration of Human Remains, violating S.C. Code Section 16-17-600 (A). The indictment alleges Meadows and Cummings failed to properly care for the victim’s body while operating Family First Funeral Home. The victim’s body was left unattended in a storage room for over three years. When recovered, the victim’s body had decomposed beyond recognition. The maximum penalty Meadows and Cummings could receive is ten years and a maximum fine of $5,000.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Attorney J. Clayton Mitchell.

Attorney General Wilson stressed all defendants are presumed innocent unless and until they are proven guilty in a court of law.