A Kentucky coroner has resigned after a disturbing lawsuit alleges he left a man to fester in a hot SUV overnight causing the body to decompose so badly that people who went to the funeral were sickened by an “offensive and putrid” smell six days later.
Morgan County Coroner Raymond Vancleave is accused of keeping Nathan Peyton’s body in a sealed black body bag instead of transporting Peyton to a freezer on a hot day in December 2022, according to a lawsuit obtained by the Law & Crime Network, filed by the man. estate in Morgan Circuit Court on Tuesday.
Basill Peyton, the administrator of Nathan Peyton’s estate, said she found her “fun-loving” brother’s body in “good condition” when she found him dead on Dec. 30, 2022, after she went to his home to check on him.
“I went and called 9-1-1, and it started from there. A nightmare,” Peyton told WKTY.
Vancleave was assigned to collect Nathan’s body that day, but when it arrived at the funeral home a few days later, a major “problem” was revealed.
Raymond Vancleave is being sued for allegedly leaving Nathan Peyton’s body in his SUV overnight causing it to rapidly decompose.WKYT
Basill Peyton sued Vancleave and six other Morgan County, Kentucky officials after her brother’s body was mishandled and decomposed.WKYT
“Nathan Dean Peyton’s body was so badly decomposed due to mishandling by then-Morgan County Coroner Raymond Vancleave that the odor emanating from the body bag was pungent and putrid,” the lawsuit alleges.
The body was allegedly left in the Vancleave SUV for more than a day after being taken from the residence.
The coroner could not store the body at any local facility because his “privilege” was suspended for failing to “retrieve the body” in a timely manner before he kept Nathan’s body in his vehicle overnight, the lawsuit alleges.
Nathan Peyton’s body was allegedly mishandled by Vancleave after it was left in the coroner’s SUV and not refrigerated after it was retrieved.WKYT
The body then “rapidly decomposed” in Vancleave’s vehicle by the time he took it to the medical examiner’s office the next day for “an autopsy the family did not request,” the suit states.
The medical examiner allegedly described the body as “moderately decomposed,” but the lawsuit revealed that was far from the truth.
Peyton’s brother’s body had decomposed so badly from alleged neglect in the corner that the family had to bury and say “goodbye” to Nathan with him “in a body bag” and in a casket due to “reckless and careless care of his body.”
Peyton is seeking an unspecified amount of damages for the alleged mishandling of Nathan’s body.WKYT
The “rotten and pungent odor” coming from Nathan’s casket service was so pungent that family, friends and “funeral home staff” vomited and became “sick” from the smell six days after his death, the suit said.
“People actually get sick from the smell coming from the casket,” he told WKTY.
Vancleave resigned from his post as coroner after notice that Peyton had filed a complaint, according to the suit.
“It’s not something you hold to a high standard like you do as sheriff or governor,” Peyton said.
“But it can affect your life more than you imagine.”
In addition to Vancleave, six other Morgan County officials are named in the suit, including former Morgan County Judge-Executive John Stacy.
Peyton is seeking an unspecified amount in damages for the alleged mishandling and treatment of her brother’s body.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
