Tragic Moment: Cemetery Employees Drop Casket at Homicide Victim’s Funeral in D.C.

The Brief

A family is devastated after cemetery employees allegedly dropped and damaged their loved one’s casket during a burial.
Cables snapped, causing the glass casket to shatter and injure the victim’s head, according to the family.
A family member intervened, claiming cemetery workers did not help fix the broken casket.
The cemetery offered a free headstone and burial costs, but the family says the emotional damage cannot be undone.

WASHINGTON – The Temoney family is devastated after a tragic incident at a Northeast D.C. cemetery during the burial of their loved one.

Corey Ward Jr., 24, was shot and killed on January 2. His death marked the city’s first homicide of the year.

Casket damaged at DC burial

The backstory:

Ward’s family gathered at Glenwood Cemetery Tuesday to lay him to rest when they claim two cemetery employees accidentally dropped his casket while lowering it into the vault.

Tragic Moment: Cemetery Employees Drop Casket at Homicide Victim’s Funeral in D.C.

According to the family, the cables used to lower the casket snapped, causing the vault to fall. The glass casket shattered, damaging the casket and injuring Ward’s head.

A family member rushed to try to fix the broken casket, claiming the employees did not assist.

Despite the damage, Ward was buried in the shattered casket, leaving the family heartbroken.

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FOX 5 reached out to the cemetery for a comment on the incident, but as of Tuesday evening, they had not responded.

However, Ward’s family told FOX 5 that the cemetery is offering a free headstone and will cover the burial costs. Despite this, the family says the emotional damage is irreparable.

“It just feels like the wounds just opened up even more, not really getting a chance to heal, and then this happened, so it’s like everything starting all over again,” said Patricia Temony, the victim’s sister. “They [Glenwood Cemetery] need to do a better job. They need to hire better staff.”

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Marcus Barnes

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