Tag: traffic fatality

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In brief: America’s Dad, Virginia’s tampons, A12’s price tag and more

U.S. Senator Tim Kaine stopped by York Place for a pizza party with UVA students. Eze Amos

New contender for America’s Dad?

Senator Tim Kaine stopped by his campaign office in York Place September 21 for a pizza party with nearly three dozen University of Virginia Democrats.

Supporters passed around campaign signs that said “America’s Dad,” although Kaine may have some competition for the title—a spokesman for Bill Cosby told reporters recently that Cosby is still America’s Dad, despite his conviction for sexual assault.

In an exclusive interview on the vital topic of “dad jokes,” Kaine confessed that he groaned when his staff introduced the signs during his 2016 vice presidential campaign. “I kind of found myself in the center of all these dad jokes. And I mean, this is a very dad thing to say, but until I was in the center of them, I didn’t know there was such a thing as a dad joke.”

Urban Dictionary defines a dad joke as an “indescribably cheesy” or dumb joke made by a father to his kids. “We’re in a business where people get called a lot of names, and being made fun of because of my dad quality? I’ll take that,” says Kaine.

Smells of pepperoni and cheese wafted through the air as Hillary Clinton’s former running mate also fielded questions about his favorite type of ’za.

“I will always have Canadian bacon, mushroom, and black olive if I can,” he said. “Not everybody has Canadian bacon. It was more popular back in the day, and with Trump in a trade war against Canada, I’m sure there’s no more Canadian bacon.”

Believe it or not, he was also there to talk politics. As was 5th District congressional candidate Leslie Cockburn, who was preaching to the choir when she said one of her top priorities is debt relief for folks with student loans.

Like his young constituents, Kaine said he believes in climate science, marriage equality, and reasonable rules to “stop the carnage of gun violence.”

“I feel like politics is a lot like a train that’s run away and we need to pull the emergency brake,” Kaine told the crowd of students. And when recruiting young supporters, he said he no longer just talks about the differences between Republicans and Democrats.

“It’s not just that there’s a difference between the two sides,” he says. “It’s that you make a difference.”

As for defeating opponent Corey Stewart? “I feel good about what I see, but we take nothing for granted.”

Quote of the week

“If someone chooses to visit a Virginia Department of Corrections inmate, he or she cannot have anything hidden inside a body cavity.”—Spokeswoman Lisa Kinney tells the AP why women can’t wear tampons or menstrual cups when visiting state prisons.

In brief

Tourism bureau slam

Adam Healey, interim executive director for the Charlottesville-Albemarle Convention and Visitors Bureau, called the agency a “weak marketer,” its messaging “confusing,” and its positioning “dusty” rather than modern, according to Allison Wrabel’s story in the Daily Progress. And he wants to bump the bureau’s advertising budget from around $400,000 to $6 million.

Weekend traffic fatalities

UVA engineering grad student Rouzbeh Rastgarkafshgarkolaei, 27, died on U.S. 29 in Culpeper around 4:50am September 23, when his 2006 Audi sideswiped a Dodge Caravan, ran off the road, and caught fire. Virginia State Police said speed was a factor. That same day, Mary Elizabeth Carter, 19, died when her Mazda crossed the center line in Louisa and struck a Ford F150. Police said she wasn’t wearing a seatbelt.

Jowell Travis Legendre faces multiple charges. Charlottesville Police

Student assaulted, robbed

A UVA student was robbed and sexually assaulted around 9:30pm September 19 on the 500 block of 14th Street NW, city police said. Louisa resident Jowell Travis Legendre, 29, was arrested the next day and charged with object sexual penetration, forcible sodomy, robbery, grand larceny, and credit card larceny.

Well endowed

UVA’s endowment jumped almost $1 billion in the last fiscal year, from $8.6 billion to $9.5 billion. Even more impressive, the endowment has seen a 10.9 percent annual return over the past 20 years, according to COO Kristina Alimard.

Nuts wanted

The Virginia Department of Forestry is seeking acorns and nuts from 12 different species, mostly oaks, from state landowners. The department wants to plant them at its Augusta Forestry Center for tree seedlings.

 

 

Pricey preparations

While Jason Kessler was in D.C., Virginia State Police sent 700 officers to Charlottesville during the
August 12 anniversary weekend that brought out hundreds of anti-racist activists, students, and
mourners, but little to no opposition. The cost?

$3.1 million, according to VSP spokesperson Corinne Geller, who says the department has submitted the bill to the Virginia Department of Emergency Management for reimbursement. That number includes: $953,000 for equipment and vehicles,
and $885,000 in salaries (for officers who would have been working anyway). It does not include costs for Charlottesville, Albemarle, and UVA.

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In brief: Summer shootings, buggy menace and more

One of UVA's many ash trees gets innoculated against the emerald ash borer. Dan Addison

Beetles on the brain

As the invasive emerald ash tree borer creeps its way into Central Virginia, UVA groundskeepers are suiting up for battle—kind of.

First discovered in the U.S. in 2002, this beetle has been detected in most of the eastern half of the country. After it lays its eggs inside ash trees, its larvae feed on the insides of the tree and disrupt its ability to transport water and nutrients, which kills the tree.

Hundreds of ash trees make up about 70 percent of the foliage on the Lawn on UVA Grounds. To prepare for an almost certain attack, the university’s trees are inoculated every two years, and just last month, Sten Cempe and a team from Big O Tree and Lawn Service were on site to inject beetle-killing emamectin benzoate into the bases of them. The inoculations are a temporary fix, but should work until a natural predator can be found to kill the borers, according to Cempe.

You oughta know

Emerald ash borers:

  • are native to Asia
  • have no natural predators in the U.S.
  • have killed hundreds of millions of ash trees in North America
  • have caused the USDA to enforce quarantines to prevent more infected ash trees
  • could contribute to the ash tree becoming endangered like the American chestnut, American elm and hemlock

*Information from UVA Today and the Emerald Ash Borer Information Network

 

Several shootings

Charlottesville police are investigating four incidents of shots fired around Friendship Court and the 700 block of Sixth Street SE between July 2 and 10. A juvenile was wounded July 8. Arrested were Chaz Dylan Newville early July 10 and a juvenile for a shooting that same night, and Zayquan Thomas is still wanted.

Plus column

Virginia tallies a $132 million surplus at the end of the 2017 fiscal year.

Naming rights

Congressman Tom Garrett proposes renaming two 5th District post offices for fallen servicemen: the Palmyra PO for Navy Gunner’s Mate Dakota Rigsby, who died on the USS Fitzgerald collision June 17, and the UVA PO for Army Captain Humayun Khan, who was killed in Iraq in 2004. Garrett’s first bill was to name the U.S. District Court in Charlottesville for the late SCOTUS Justice Antonin Scalia.

“It’s shaping up to be the East Coast Berkeley.”

—Jason Kessler on his August 12 Unite the Right rally in a Salting the Earth podcast

No new leads

July 14 marked the five-year anniversary of the Pherbia “Faye” Tinsley murder in which the 51-year-old left her Barracks Road home early in the morning and was found shot to death in her car on Prospect Avenue. City police are still investigating this case.

Huffstetler’s war chest

Roger Dean Huffstetler and wife Emily. Publicity photo

Democratic candidate for Virginia’s 5th Congressional District and Marine veteran Roger Dean Huffstetler raised more than $336,000 in the last financial quarter, surpassing all other non-incumbent 5th District candidates in recent history. Democrats Ben Cullop, of Albemarle County, and Leslie Cockburn, of Rappahannock County, have also joined Huffstetler, Adam Slate and Andrew Sneathern in the race.

 

 

 

 

Deadly highways

Interstate 64 and the U.S. 29/250 Bypass saw three fatalities in fewer than 24 hours, as well as a stabbing earlier in the week. A woman’s body was found in the southbound lane of U.S. 29 near the Old Ivy Road bridge around 9:30am July 15, closing the road until 1pm.  Police are seeking information, and at press time, had not released the victim’s name.

Around 6am July 16, Winston J. Smith II, 32, who worked at NBC29 and was an actor in local theater, most recently Live Arts’ production of Death of a Salesman, headed the wrong way on eastbound I-64 and crashed head-on into Troutville resident Bethany M. Franklin, 30, a Moneta firefighter. Both died at the scene at the Ivy exit at mile marker 114, and the driver of a third vehicle—a Ford F-150—was taken to UVA Medical Center with minor injuries. Smith’s green Isuzu pickup was reported earlier driving recklessly on westbound I-64, and then in an emergency crossover, according to Virginia State Police.

And on July 11, a 46-year-old Fishersville woman was found critically wounded from stab wounds to her neck and abdomen on I-64 near mile marker 101 on Afton Mountain. Her ex-boyfriend, Rodney D. Burnett, 46, of Indiana, was arrested in her car and charged with malicious wounding.

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In brief: Craftivism, kids gone wild and more

The Yard food hall concept planned for 5th Street Station is modeled after Krog Street Market in Atlanta. Rendering courtesy of Candice McEyea

Feed lot

Earlier this month, we reported in our Small Bites column about a new food hall concept opening at 5th Street Station. Now we have the rendering to prove it.

The Yard, modeled after the Krog Street Market in Atlanta, will be a 10,000-square-foot mixed-use space next to the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema with five or six restaurants, ranging from 2,000 to 6,000 square feet each, according to Candice McElyea, a spokesperson for the shopping center. It’ll have fire pits (oooh) and string lights (aaah) and will include plenty of indoor and outdoor seating for people wanting to meet for a drink or share a meal. Oh, and free Wi-Fi for our friends working on a tight deadline, or those who simply prefer the company of a laptop.

Come late summer, we’ll see you there.

In brief

Men overboard

Coach Tony Bennett takes his Cavs to Elite Eight. Photo: Jack Looney
Photo Jack Looney

Three Cavaliers jumped Tony Bennett’s basketball ship March 22 and 23. Junior Darius Thompson joined transferring teammates Marial Shayok and Jarred Reuter in heading elsewhere. A fourth Hoo, Austin Nichols, was kicked off the team last fall and is declaring for the NBA draft.

Traffic fatality

Bonnie L. Carter, 47, of Esmont, died in a single vehicle crash on Plank Road near Secretary Sand Road around 12:30pm March 28, Albemarle’s second fatal crash this year. She was driving a 2007 Kia Sportage westbound when she ran off the right side of the road and hit a tree. The crash is still under investigation, county police say.

Kids behaving badly

After a local juvenile shooting and police chase March 16, another 16- and 17-year-old boy from Albemarle County and Troy, respectively, were charged in a March 26 home invasion at the University Forum apartments on Ivy Road. The victim sustained minor injuries.

“It was all for love.”

—Jay Obergefell, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that upheld marriage as a fundamental right, at the Virginia Festival of the Book March 24

Fenwick in

fenwick reelection
Staff photo

Bob Fenwick said he’ll seek a second term on City Council and the Democratic primary nomination. Fenwick, often on the solo end of 4-1 votes, broke a tie and voted to remove the Robert E. Lee statue. He faces challengers Amy Laufer and Heather Hill for the Dem nomination. Mayor Mike Signer attended the announcement, but declined to say whom he’s backing.

Word of the week

resist
Staff photo

Craftivism. First came the pussy hats, now scarves urging “resist” are being spotted around town.

 

 

Alt-right vocabulary lesson

State GOP chair John Whitbeck chastised Trump loyalist/gubernatorial candidate Corey Stewart for calling opponent Ed Gillespie a “cucksurvative.” The term “cuck,” we learn from GQ, comes from porn in which a white husband watches his wife have sex with a black man. It’s a term “used by white nationalists,” Whitbeck told the Washington Post. Stewart says he was just trying to use hip young conservative lingo.

By the numbers

Grounds swell

rotunda
Photo Karen Blaha

Woohoo to the Wahoo class of 2021. Nearly 10,000 prospective first-years were offered a spot at the University of Virginia for the upcoming fall semester from a record number of applicants.

2017 Applicants: 36,807

Offers: 9,957

Likely to be here in the fall: 3,725

Average SAT: 1416

Average in 2016: 1346

Ethnic minority: About 35 percent

First-generation college students: 1,000

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Robert Davis’ mother killed in head-on collision

Sandy Seal with Robert Davis after his December 2015 release from prison. Photo Ryan Jones

The mother of Robert Davis, who spent 13 years in prison for crimes he didn’t commit and who got an absolute pardon from the governor before Christmas, died in a collision with a tanker truck Thursday morning in Augusta County.

Sandra M. Seal, 57, of Crimora, was traveling on U.S. 340 just before 11am when her 2001 Toyota Corolla crossed the center line and crashed head-on into the truck, which was partially loaded with propane, according to Virginia State Police. The truck flipped onto its side, but the tank did not rupture and the driver was uninjured. Seal died at the scene.

Seal also is the mother of local musician Lester Seal, who hosted a fundraiser for his brother last February after Davis was released from prison on a conditional pardon.

During her son’s long incarceration for the 2003 murders in Crozet of her Cling Lane neighbor Nola Charles and her toddler son, Seal said the wrongful conviction made her family victims, too. “I’m a victim because I didn’t have my son for 13 years,” she said in 2016. “Lester grew up without his brother. Robert is a victim because he lost his freedom for something he didn’t do.”

She also said her health suffered as a result of Davis’ imprisonment, and that she lost her job when he was accused of the horrific crimes.

Davis, 32, was released from prison December 21, 2015, which was Sandy Seal’s birthday, and she was overjoyed to see her son free for the first time since he was 18 years old.

A year later on December 16, Governor Terry McAuliffe granted Davis an absolute pardon.

Davis made what is now considered a textbook example of a coerced false confession. Seal told reporters a few days after his full pardon, “I’ve been kicking myself. I never talked to my kids and said, ‘If a policeman wants to talk to you to clear something up, say you want a lawyer.’”

Steve Rosenfield is Davis’ attorney and represented him for years pro bono to get him pardoned after the siblings convicted of the murders, Rocky and Jessica Fugett, admitted they’d lied when they said Davis took part.

“Sandy expressed to me her greatest joy was seeing Robert exonerated and all the sadness from the years she waited for his freedom was swept away by the governor’s judgment,” says Rosenfield.

One day before her death, Rosenfield filed a petition in the Albemarle Circuit Court to get Davis’ criminal record expunged .

 

 

 

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Driver in fatal accident faces four new charges

Frayser White IV has been charged with two felony drug possession counts and two misdemeanors in the death of Carolyn Wayne. Photo Albemarle police

After Frayser White IV crashed into 81-year-old Caroline Wayne’s automobile on March 15 on Ivy Road, she died and he was charged with his second DWI. That charge was dropped and a grand jury indicted him on four new counts August 1.

According to search warrants, police noted that White’s car had a lingering wine aroma, and they discovered the prescription drug Suboxone, which is used to treat opioid addiction, the residue of suspected illegal narcotics and containers filled with suspected alcoholic beverages.

White told police that he had not been drinking, but he did admit to purchasing a bottle of wine earlier in the day. A witness at the crash spotted White placing an unknown item behind a bush following his accident, according to NBC29. Upon investigation, officers discovered a small stash of generic Xanax plopped inside the bush, and pills were also recovered near the scene of the crash.

Tests of White’s blood alcohol content showed that he had not been drinking, according to a motion to dismiss the charge of driving while intoxicated for the second time in five years. The motion also noted there was not enough evidence to charge him with involuntary manslaughter while driving under the influence.

White is now charged with four counts including two felony counts of possession of heroin and possession of cocaine, and misdemeanor charges of possession of Xanax and reckless driving.

According to Charlottesville court records, White already has one conviction of reckless driving under his belt along with six speeding tickets in Albemarle, as well as a driving under the influence conviction in December 2014, and charges for improper driving, improper passing and driving without a license.

 

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‘Inherently dangerous’: Route 20 claims another life

Route 20 to Scottsville has evolved from a scenic rural route to a commuters’ and commercial corridor. Days before the most recent fatality, Edward Strickler went to a county transportation meeting to see what could be done to make the road safer. Photo: Martyn Kyle

Even before Juliana Porter became the latest motorist to die October 4 on Route 20 South, longtime commuter Edward Strickler had gone to an Albemarle County transportation meeting to voice his concerns about the road to Scottsville.

He’s seen a lot of fatal or near-fatal accidents since he moved to Scottsville 20 years ago. Strickler estimates that at least three times a week, he and his partner will see dangerous behavior on the road that causes them to go, “Whoa, look at that,” he says. “When someone is gaming the passing zones or passing on a double-yellow line, you can’t do anything. There’s no shoulder to get over on.”

Six people have died on the Constitution Route since 2011, according to Albemarle County Police, but the changes Strickler would like to see—reduced speed limits, eliminated passing zones and added shoulders—are not likely to happen, says the Virginia Department of Transportation.

Porter, 25, a UVA med student from Norfolk, was driving north on Route 20 when her Honda Civic crashed head-on into a Ford Explorer about a mile north of Keene. She became the county’s 11th fatality this year, say Albemarle police. She was valedictorian of her high school class, graduated magna cum laude from Davidson College in 2012 and was engaged to be married next year, according to her obituary.

Strickler, who works in the UVA School of Medicine, says it was not the first time a young doctor has died. He recalls a colleague who had just finished his training and was preparing to start an independent practice when he crashed on Route 20. His peers at the hospital worked unsuccessfully to save his life, and he died leaving a widow and young children. Strickler remembers well his funeral, and says, “In the midst of so much loving care for the dead and the living there was always the truth that this death, this sorrow, this loss were all avoidable.”

Strickler wants the speed limit from the town of Scottsville to Scottsville Elementary School reduced from 35mph to 25mph. While the lower speed would reduce the severity of an accident, says Joel DeNunzio, VDOT’s resident administrator for Albemarle, “The reality is that people are not going to drive that slow.”

Passing zones are another area of concern for Strickler after seeing people make dangerous maneuvers. VDOT will take a look at those, says DeNunzio.

While traveling in rural Maryland recently, Strickler noted its “marvelously wide paved shoulders” and wonders why Albemarle’s rural roads can’t have the same.

Two problems, responds DeNunzio. Part of it is the topography of rural Maryland compared with here. Roads closer to the mountains have fewer shoulders, he says.

“I love the idea of wide shoulders,” which would greatly improve the safety of Route 20 between Charlottesville and Scottsville, he says. However, adding a 4′ shoulder would cost between $15 million and $20 million. Instead, DeNunzio says he’ll recommend spot improvements, which are more likely to find funding, and adding Route 20 to the long-range transportation plan for rural roads.

“Route 20 is an old road that has become a commuter route,” he says, and it would take major reconstruction to straighten curves and flatten hills.

Earl Smith, candidate for the Scottsville seat on the Board of Supervisors, has been riding on that road since he was 12 years old. “What we have now is like a superhighway compared to before,” he says.

Smith remembers “a horrible wreck” in the late 1970s where “six or seven” kids riding in a pickup truck were killed on the same stretch of road where Porter died.

He says he hears a lot of complaints about speeding, and he thinks a lot of the dangerous passing on double-yellow lines comes from people driving too slowly. “A tremendous amount of people are scared to death to drive 20,” he says. “I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve ranted about them going 25 or 30mph and won’t pull over.”

Smith agrees that Route 20 South can be perilous, but says he doesn’t think it’s any more dangerous than Black Cat or Old Lynchburg roads.

“It’s always been an issue,” says Rick Randolph, who’s also running to represent the Scottsville District on the Board of Supervisors. “It’s a longstanding concern. People feel it’s best to straighten it out. Given the precarious nature of VDOT funding and the cost that would be involved, the chances are very slim we’ll see that happen.”

Randolph, too, points out that Route 20 isn’t the only inherently dangerous thoroughfare in the county and lists Route 53—“that’s an extremely dangerous road”—and routes 22/231 and 20 North.

Randolph and Smith both suggest signage might be a good idea to urge caution. “People need to remind themselves they need to drive prudently,” says Randolph.

Strickler has another idea for improving safety with more community policing and the presence of officers, “particularly at commuting time.”

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Bad week in July: Five dead in four crashes; four still in critical condition

No rhyme or reason in the locations of last week’s crashes: Quincy and Desmond Holmes on Gordonsville Road at Klockner Road, 6:41am July 20; James Miller at U.S. 29/250 bypass at Ivy Road, 3:14pm July 21; Josh Payne on U.S. 29 north at Branchlands Boulevard, 11:14pm July 21; James Taylor on Garth Road just west of Wind River Road, 11:30am July 25.

Five people were killed in four separate car accidents last week, and four of those deaths occurred within 48 hours.

The high number of vehicular deaths in such a short amount of time is unusual, according to Carter Johnson, spokesperson for the Albemarle County Police Department,

“We’ve had spurts where you’ll have fatal crashes close together, but this is a lot more than normal,” Johnson says. “To have four [fatal crashes] in one week is pretty unusual. Usually we see one or two back-to-back.”

The string of fatal crashes began the morning of July 20 when a white Ford Expedition traveling northbound on Gordonsville Road crossed the double yellow line and struck a gray Nissan Altima traveling south at 6:41am. Ten-year-old Quincy Jamal Jones, who was riding in the Altima, was pronounced dead at the scene. His 9-year-old brother, Desmond Javon Holmes, was transported to University of Virginia Medical Center, where he died Tuesday, July 21, from injuries sustained in the crash. The two other passengers in the Altima, including the father of the two boys, were flown to the UVA Medical Center and remain in critical condition. Whether they were wearing seatbelts is still under investigation, according to Johnson. The driver of the Expedition was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

The brothers, who are from Fairfax, attended Cardinal Ridge Elementary School. A vigil commemorating the boys will be held July 30 at Cardinal Ridge Elementary and funeral services are scheduled for July 31 at Mount Pleasant Baptist Church in Herndon.

“It’s hard when you see anyone killed in a crash, but to see children who are so young and have so much of their life ahead of them… it really takes a toll on you,” says Johnson. “The officers are professionals who are committed to their investigations and they have support within the agency, but it was a challenging week.”

Another traffic-related fatality occurred on July 21 at 3:14pm. A Ford F150 traveling south on the Route 250 bypass during a downpour hydroplaned, causing the driver lose control of the truck and cross the median into northbound lanes of traffic, where it struck James K. Miller, 66, who was on a motorcycle. Miller died at the scene. The driver of the truck was unharmed.

Fewer than nine hours later, a Honda Civic traveling south along Seminole Trail took a left turn on a red light at Branchlands Boulevard into the path of a northbound Mitsubishi Montero. The Montero slammed into the passenger side of the Honda, killing 22-year-old Josh Payne of Troy. The driver of the Honda, 21-year-old Brandon Scott Martin, was charged with driving under the influence and is in critical condition at the UVA Medical Center. A juvenile passenger riding in the rear of the Honda was ejected from the car and is also in critical condition. No one in the Honda was wearing a seatbelt, say police. The driver of the Montero was transported to the University Medical Center with non-critical injuries.

Last year 10 of the 16 people killed in county crashes were unbelted and six of the 14 fatal crashes involved impaired drivers, according to a July 23 traffic safety alert released by Albemarle Police.

“None are the same and you can’t pinpoint a cause or why they would all happen in one week. That’s why we do crash reconstruction because we want to get to the bottom of each case and get closure for the families,” Johnson says. “If there was criminal behavior or negligence we want to be able to determine that and remind people about drinking and driving.”

The latest deadly accident occurred on the morning of Saturday, July 25, when father of three James R. Taylor, 57, traveling west on Garth Road, crossed the double yellow line in his Toyota Tacoma and hit a GMC Yukon in the eastbound lane head-on. Taylor, of Earlysville, was taken to UVA Medical Center where he later died. The driver of the GMC Yukon sustained minor injuries.

Saturday’s crash was the eighth fatal accident this year in Albemarle.

“We know it’s concerning for the community when you have this many crashes back-to-back,” says Johnson. “We are thinking ‘What can we do? What can we focus on? How can we get this message out? How can we make the roads safer?’ It’s a top priority for our agency and it’s important for the people who live and work throughout Albemarle County.”

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Hit-and-run victim ID’d as Stanardsville father of four

Damien Shifflett's family suffered another loss in a December house fire. Photo courtesy family

A family member has said that the man killed early January 20 in a hit and run on U.S. 29 in Ruckersville is Damien Shifflett, 30, a father of four. State police spokeswoman Corinne Geller has since confirmed the ID, and said that Shifflett was from Stanardsville.

Barely a month earlier, his family suffered another tragedy. According to the family member, Shifflett is the uncle of the 4-year-old who died in a house fire December 19 on Matthew Mill Road, which is close to where he was found.

Virginia State Police are still looking for the driver of the vehicle that struck Shifflett between 1am and 3:30am January 20, and have asked anyone with information to call 434-352-7128.

“Our family has been through so much in such a short time and we are trying to pull together,” said his cousin, Shana Marie Lamb in a gofundme post to help pay for Shifflett’s funeral.

Said Lamb in a Facebook message, “We are in desperate need of funds so that we can lay him to rest.”