Blood stained box, rodents among reasons Detroit funeral home shut down

DETROIT (WJBK) - A blood stained box, rodent infestations and an unsanitary embalming room are just some of the charges leveled at a Detroit funeral home.

The state is essentially deep sixing the Barksdale Funeral home. Licensing and Regulatory Affairs is suspending Barksdale's license after auditors and inspectors found deplorable conditions inside.

Some of the other violations found included cremated remains stored improperly inside the home and its garages and remains in poor condition due to either water damage or rodents.

"Unclean," said one customer, Lara, after she was shown the report. "This is not good. this is not good at all."

"So he was laying up in that kind of condition and they couldn't even notify me," said customer Dana Davis.

Davis employed Barksdale for her brother's December funeral. She says they never contacted her about picking up his cremated remains.

"I’m very upset about that," Davis said. 

FOX 2: "Were you able to retrieve his remains?"

"Yeah, I just got them," Davis said. "I said why you didn't call? He said oh, 'I didn't know how long they were here.' You knew. Why didn't you call me? Who doesn't know when ashes are there."

Lara accused the funeral home of operating with an expired license and fraud. It says Barksdale violated the prepaid act by failing to deposit more than $2,000 in funds related to three prepaid funeral contracts with an authorized escrow agent.
 
The Barksdale Funeral Home did not comment on the state's actions. 

"That's very disappointing because it's such a reputable funeral home," Lara said. "So I'm a little shocked actually."

Lara is giving Barksdale until Monday to complete its remaining services or refer families to other funeral homes before its license suspension goes into effect.