A Kentucky coroner accused of leaving a dead man’s body to decompose overnight in a hot car is facing a lawsuit, along with several other county officials.
The Sept. 12 lawsuit, filed by Basill Peyton, brother of the deceased Nathan Peyton, alleges that Morgan County Coroner Raymond Vancleave negligently mishandled Nathan’s body when he died on Dec. 30, 2022, according to multiple reports.
In court documents filed by Basill, he accuses Vancleave of “corpse abuse” and claims the coroner left his brother’s body in a “sealed black body bag” overnight in a vehicle on an “unseasonably warm day.”
Vancleave, who has since resigned as Morgan County coroner, did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
The lawsuit also names former Judge Executive John Stacy and District Fiscal Court Judges Brandon Evans, Carter Bolin, Donnie Keaton, Darrell Patrick and Leroy Phipps, claiming they should have been aware of the coroner’s past negligent conduct.
According to WKTV, when Basill found Nathan dead, the body was in good condition. However, the complaint alleges that “instead of transporting Nathan Dean Peyton’s body to the State Medical Examiner’s Office in Frankfort, Kentucky,” Coroner Vancleave kept the body in his SUV for most of the day.
Nathan’s body was “rapidly decomposing,” according to court documents.
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A former Morgan County, Kentucky coroner is being sued for allowing a body to decompose in his SUV overnight.
CWKYT
The lawsuit alleges that Vancleave had previously been revoked access to morgue, freezer and refrigeration systems at local hospitals because of his alleged failure to retrieve bodies in a timely manner, of which county officials were allegedly aware.
On December 31, 2022, Vancleave allegedly transported Nathan’s body to the state medical examiner’s office in Frankfort for an “autopsy not requested by the family” of the deceased.
Court documents claim that state medical examiner Sarah Maines noted that the body was “moderately decomposed.”
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However, on January 1, when a representative of a local funeral home claimed the body, the corpse’s condition had further deteriorated, with court documents stating that the corpse was “so decomposed due to mishandling” that “the odor from the body bag was acrid and putrid .”
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Nathan’s funeral, which was held on January 6, had to be held with a closed casket because the stage of advanced decomposition meant the body could not be embalmed, according to court documents, which also claim that several visitors to the funeral home “vomited and became ill from of the foul and pungent odor that came from Mr. Peyton’s coffin.”
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“When they buried him, he had to stay in a body bag. A closed casket,” Basill told WKYT. “People actually got sick from the smell coming from the coffin.”
The lawsuit seeks an unspecified amount of damages for Basillo, who says he “suffered and endured great and severe mental and physical pain and suffering.”
Vancleave’s attorney did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
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