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St. Pete Funeral Home Ordered To Stop Embalming

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PETER BERNARD

pbernard@wfla.com

Published: January 26, 2009

Updated: 01/26/2009 09:52 pm

Responding to complaints from two families, Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink has ordered a St. Petersburg funeral home to immediately cease any services involving embalming or refrigeration.

Sink issued the order last week against the Morning Glory Funeral Chapel of St. Petersburg, 3301 5th Ave. S.

Sink oversees the Department of Financial Services, which licenses and regulates the funeral and cemetery industry through the Division of Cemetery, Funeral and Consumer Services. The emergency order was issued "to protect consumers while we continue to investigate and ensure quality services are provided," according to a statement from her office.

The department received complaints from the members of two families who say they saw fly larvae, or maggots, on their deceased loved ones' bodies, and that a foul odor emanated from the bodies during funerals, the statement says.

One of those complaints came after the Dec. 28 wake for 55-year-old Deloris Washington, who died of cancer. Family members took turns viewing her body in a casket at the funeral home, but Deloris' younger sister, Joanne Washington, says she saw a maggot come from her dead sister's lips.

The funeral home owner, Lisa Speights, dabbed the maggot away with a napkin, Joanne Washington said.

"Lisa saw the maggot,'' Washington said. "Lisa knows what went on.''

Speights denies the incident happened during the wake, or another one in July, where a family claims a maggot crawled out of a loved one's nose.

"Were there maggots on the bodies here? No, there weren't,'' Speights said. "These are hearsay allegations and the state issued its emergency order without talking to me, interviewing me or asking me any questions.''

Speights says the families involved can't pay the balance on their funeral bills so they dreamed up the maggot story to discredit her.

She also says another factor is at play.

"I believe that a lot of this stems from competition from other funeral homes,'' Speights said. "They're displeased because I have the best prices and I offer a good service.''

A full investigation, Speights said, will result in the restrictions on her funeral home being lifted.

"I feel that justice will prevail. And I'm not worried because I do things according to the book.''

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