Zepeda-Lara

FACTS

Gilbert Zepeda died indigent, intestate, and unclaimed in Fresno in May 2006. Gilbert was then cremated and County assumed control over the cremains because the county deputy coroner assigned to Gilbert’s case identified no next of kin. In 2009, Gilbert’s cremains were interred in County’s own cemetery, Potters’ Field. Gilbert’s cremains were interred in an unsealed concrete burial liner that also held the cremains of 306 other unclaimed persons. Gilbert’s cremains, like those of most of the other 306 individuals, were likely placed into a plastic box measuring 6.5 inches wide, 4.5 inches deep, and 8.5 inches tall. The interior of the common burial liner was open and did not contain separate compartments for each of the containers or urns in which the 307 persons’ cremains were placed. Typically, cremains interred by County are placed in a plastic bag, which is then sealed with a zip tie or tape, and placed into the cremains container. Adhesive paper labels containing the name of the deceased, if known, and the name of the funeral home performing the cremation are placed on the outside of the cremains containers. It is also standard practice for funeral homes to use a metal…