Judge allows Norfolk mortuary to stay open for now

NORFOLK

A Circuit Court judge granted a temporary order Friday allowing a Park Place funeral home to remain in business for at least another week. 

The Carlos A. Howard Funeral Home was given notice to close Thursday by the Virginia Department of Health Professions, which said the funeral home improperly prepared the remains of a murder victim.

Judge Karen J. Burrell allowed owner Carlos Howard to keep his funeral home running for another week but ordered that he take no new business. She ordered a second hearing for Jan. 27.

The state department was unable to send a representative to the hearing, Burrell said. The second hearing will allow a state attorney to argue on behalf of the department.

But Burrell said Howard had shown the need for an emergency injunction. “I believe these services should go forward,” she said.

Howard was contracted for several funerals when the state told him to cease operations, he testified. He performed one funeral Friday and arranged for a Suffolk funeral home to handle a second ceremony, he said. The order allows Howard to prepare two bodies remaining at his home for interment.

Howard, whose business has been a fixture on West 35th Street, said his funeral home meets state standards and never posed a hazard to the community. “I’m going to be here. I’m not going to go anywhere,” he said outside the courthouse. “I will fight this.”

A state panel investigated Howard for allegedly violating the law in the handling of a gunshot victim, according to state documents. Investigators said that a body sent from Howard’s business in Norfolk to Philadelphia arrived in poor condition, leaking embalming fluid and needing substantial aesthetic repairs.

The Virginia Board of Funeral Directors and Embalmers reviewed the case in December and stated that the funeral home posed a health risk to the community. The board voted to suspend the funeral home’s license, according to a letter from the state.

The panel scheduled a hearing on the case in March. Howard said the remains were handled properly, and he would challenge the panel’s decision at the hearing.

Howard and his lawyers argued Friday that the business provides an invaluable service in the community. He testified he offers funeral services for less than half of what his competitors charge. The business has many poor clients, he said, and it’s “their last hope of getting a traditional burial and a traditional service.”

Joyvan Malbon, an attorney for Howard, said the funeral home was not given proper notice from the state. Rescheduling the planned funerals would add stress to grieving families, she said. “This is not an ordinary retail business,” she said. 

Louis Hansen, 757-446-2341, louis.hansen@pilotonline.com