Headstone for family's late loved one found dumped on Detroit street

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Ashley Greene lost her uncle, Tyrone Greene, three years ago - the family paid tribute to him with a headstone that marks his grave.

"He was an amazing man - such a great guy," she said.

But originally there was another headstone made by Marsh and Sassi Monuments in Detroit.

"We ordered the headstone and the spelling on his name was incorrect and also she left out the pictures," Greene said.

Big picture view:

That original headstone was on a street corner on the city's east side - dumped - like garbage.

"(We) were shocked to say the least," she said,.

"It's sad - this is not the way you treat the families - not at all," said Robin Hill, a family friend. "Tyrone deserves better - the family deserves better."

"Like a slap in the face - it's  a shame," Greene said.

A neighbor says she first saw the headstone when she was out walking but it was on the side of the road buried in debris- and that was more than a year ago.

"My niece went walking and said - hey - there's a tombstone down there, I said let's get pictures of it - let's post it on Facebook," she said.

Carrie Russell and other neighbors said they posted on social media to try to find relatives - which is how the the family eventually found out about it - now they want answers.

"This needs to be exposed, the company - they need to provide some answers - I mean - how did it get here?" Hill said.

That's the question FOX 2 had for Marsh and Sassi owner Joelle Wright-Terry but the place was locked up tight - the phone number once listed on a sign out front of the building is now gone.

FOX 2 did a story on her and this company back in 2022 when another customer faced a long delay getting her order.

It's not clear what's going on with the company now - or how this headstone ended up there.

"He's worth so much more than to be dumped - like he's trash," Greene said.

The Greene family now plans to place it in their garden.

The other side:

Producer update: The owner, Wright-Terry, contacted FOX 2 after seeing this report. She says that she closed the business and sold the building and it's contents after her husband died during the Covid pandemic.

She said she would never do such a thing, and is unaware of who may have done this or why the headstone was dumped.