$8.3 Million
Paradise Memorial Park Litigation
Consumer Class Action,Consumer Rights,Death Care
Attorneys:
Mike Arias, Arnold Wang
Case Synopsis
Arias Sanguinetti represented families whose loved ones were buried at Paradise Memorial Park, a cemetery in Santa Fe Springs that served a predominantly Black community. Families discovered headstones missing, graves disturbed, and, in some cases, bodies gone altogether.
State investigators later confirmed what many feared: cemetery staff had dug up caskets to resell burial plots and, in some cases, buried multiple bodies in a single grave. Human remains were found discarded in piles of dirt. Families were never notified. Many learned the truth only when they returned to visit and could no longer find their loved ones’ resting places.
The lawsuit resulted in a settlement for affected families and the creation of a trust fund to help preserve the cemetery. But no amount of money can undo the pain of not knowing where your parent, child, or grandparent is buried—or if they’re even there at all.
These families stood together to demand answers and dignity for those who could no longer speak for themselves.
“When a community’s resting places are desecrated, it’s more than property, it’s dignity stolen. We took on Paradise Memorial Park to hold the cemetery accountable, restore peace of mind, and preserve dignity for families who lost much more than graves.”
