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Glenwood Cemetery sued a year after toppling headstone killed boy

Jay Hamburger THE PARK RECORD

The parents of a young boy who died after a headstone fell on him in Glenwood Cemetery in 2012 filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, claiming the association that oversees the cemetery was negligent in the way it attempted to keep the grounds safe.

Zachary Cheney and Hilary Cheney, who are from Lehi, seek more than $300,000 from the Glenwood Cemetery Association in the lawsuit, which was filed in Third District Court at Silver Summit. No court dates have been scheduled.

The lawsuit claims the Cheney family was at the cemetery on July 5, 2012. The father was shooting photos of another family and Carson Cheney, who was 4 years old, "was trying to make the children being photographed smile," according to the lawsuit. Carson Cheney hid behind a headstone of a man who died in 1889 and "would pop out suddenly" to try to garner smiles, the lawsuit claims.

The headstone he was hiding behind then suddenly fell even though the boy only lightly touched it, the lawsuit says. The families rushed to his aid and removed the four-foot-tall headstone from on top of him, but he suffered severe injuries, including to the head, the parents claim in the lawsuit.

Emergency responders were summoned and the boy was taken to a hospital, where he died.

The lawsuit claims the cemetery a few years earlier tried to repair the headstone. It says the cemetery, though, replaced rusted steel dowels with a construction adhesive affixing the headstone to the base instead of putting in new dowels. The headstone weighs more than 200 pounds, the lawsuit says.

"In time, the adhesive bond failed, making the headstone susceptible to being knocked over by the light force of a four-year old boy," the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit charges that the cemetery association understood a falling headstone "constituted a danger to those visiting a cemetery, including small children who were known to play and wander among the grave markers and headstones."

It says the headstone that fell onto the boy was a "hidden danger, ready to fall on anyone with minimal force applied to it."

Bruce Erickson, who is the president of the Glenwood Cemetery Association, declined to comment, saying he could not discuss a pending legal action. He said the association had not been served with the lawsuit by Friday morning.

The association closed the cemetery the evening of the boy’s death and it remained closed for more than a month as safety measures were considered. Signs were posted inside the cemetery asking that visitors remain on footpaths.

There are approximately 900 graves in the Glenwood Cemetery, located off Silver King Drive in Thaynes Canyon. It dates to 1885.

The death of the boy, meanwhile, prompted City Hall officials to canvass the Park City Cemetery off Kearns Boulevard for headstones that could pose a danger. Caution tape was put around some of them while others were laid on the ground. Approximately 50 headstones were later reinforced at Park City Cemetery.

Park City


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