LA funeral home director left remains to rot

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A Los Angeles funeral home owner illegally left the remains of 11 people, including infants, in stages of decay and mummification and faces more than a decade in jail, prosecutors said Friday.

City Attorney Mike Feuer, whose office can only file misdemeanor offenses, announced the charges Friday, calling it an “incredibly sad and shocking situation” and said that officials could smell the odor from outside the San Fernando Valley facility.

“Eleven people died, including very young children, and the funeral director hired to compassionately prepare the bodies for burial allegedly just let them rot, with neither the decency nor the dignity that all our loved ones deserve,” Feuer said in a statement.

“Their deaths are one tragedy, and this alleged monstrous mistreatment is a second tragedy.”

Funeral homes that mistreat human remains have made headlines for years.

Funeral home regulations vary across the U.S., with some states requiring annual inspections and several requiring no inspections at all.