Caldwell
BATON ROUGE, La. (Legal Newsline) - Louisiana Attorney General Buddy Caldwell announced a consent judgment on Tuesday restricting Lymus Washington from engaging in business at Gilbert Memorial Park cemetery.
Washington is the former operator of the Baton Rouge cemetery and was the subject of multiple complaints to Caldwell's office and the Louisiana Cemetery Board. Caldwell filed suit in October seeking an order to restrain Washington from operating the cemetery because he was allegedly no longer licensed to do so.
District Court Judge Todd Hernandez granted the preliminary judgment against Washington that puts all of Caldwell's demands into place. Under the terms of the judgment, Washington or anyone working for him may no longer conduct any cemetery operations at Gilbert Memorial Park. In addition, Washington must produce any documents he owns related to Gilbert.
Gilbert Memorial Park has been a cemetery since the early 20th century. Since 2003, however, Caldwell's office and the Louisiana Cemetery Board have received multiple complaints ranging from mismanagement and poor upkeep to the selling of cemetery merchandise and spaces without a license.
The order supports Caldwell's efforts to protect those who have loved ones buried at the cemetery and to move forward on further action at Gilbert. This action includes the institution of a receivership to operate the facility until the identification of a responsible owner can be made.