Preston Sheriff’s department acknowledges man’s cremains were placed in trash

KINGWOOD — In their answer to a lawsuit, the Preston Sheriff’s Department and County Commission have acknowledged that a portion of a man’s cremains were placed in the trash.
Byron Hawthorne filed suit in Preston Circuit Court in August.
Hawthorne said he honored his and his father’s shared love for his car by placing a part of his father’s cremated remains in a small urn on his key chain. On June 25, Hawthorne misplaced the key chain at his workplace, Vapor Oil Field Services, in Preston County.
He said another employee turned the key chain over to the sheriff’s department. On June 26, the department returned the key chain to Vapor Oil. The urn was gone, and, “only a small fraction of Mr. Hawthorne’s father’s cremains were present and were in a latex glove,” according to the suit.
Hawthorne was told police knew narcotics are sometimes placed in these urns, so they tested the cremains for drugs. The result was negative, and the urn was thrown away.
In their reply to the suit, the sheriff’s department and commission say they are entitled to “qualified and/or good faith immunity from all liability because the alleged conduct … did not violate any clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of Plaintiff of which a reasonable person should have been aware.”
They, “acted in an objectively reasonable manor [sic] and did not violate any legal rights of the Plaintiff,” the answer says.
They also say the Preston County Sheriff’s Department is not an entity that can be sued, so the suit should be dismissed.
They admit “the contents of the container and the container had been deposited in one or more trash containers at the Sheriff’s Department” but say, “the vast majority of the contents of the container,” were returned in a latex glove.
They deny all the claims of reckless/negligent mishandling of remains. They admit they were not acting, “under any emergency or exigent circumstances.”
Hawthorne is asking for compensatory damages; judgment with interest; attorney fees, costs and expenses; and any other relief the court deems just. The commission and sheriff’s department ask the court to dismiss the suit and order Hawthorne to pay their expenses.
The commission and sheriff’s department are being represented by the firm Busch, Zurbuch & Thompson. Hawthorne is represented by Matthew P. Crimmel.