Mother devastated after family graves vandalized and stolen from in Lacooche cemetery
Courtesy: Miranda English
LACOOCHEE, Fla. - A Pasco County mother is devastated after several graves at a Lacoochee cemetery were vandalized and items connected to her family were stolen.
Pasco County grave vandalism
What we know:
Miranda English says one of the graves belongs to her infant son, Lamont Simpson, who died and was buried there in 2002.
Pasco County deputies say Christine Mixon is facing at least five charges in connection with the alleged grave vandalism and theft.
English says a headstone she had recently placed on the grave of Lamont Simpson Sr. was taken just two days after it was installed. An urn containing the ashes of English's mother-in-law, known to the family as "Granny Dee," is also missing.
English says several other items she placed on the graves over the years were either stolen or destroyed.
A bench she had placed at the grave site was destroyed, and glass covering several photographs was shattered.
What we don't know:
English says she has seen Mixon around the cemetery before, but says she does not know why she would allegedly damage or take items from her family's graves.
It is also unclear whether all the missing items will be recovered.
Pasco County family loss
The backstory:
English says the cemetery had long been a place where she could find comfort while remembering the people she had lost.
She says she has continued visiting her son's grave for more than two decades and marks his birthday each year by releasing the number of balloons representing the age he would have been.
"It's been 24 years and every birthday I've come down here and set off the amount of balloons that he would have turned," English said.
Lamont is buried between his father, Lamont Simpson Sr., and English's father, William Cloud.
"It used to be my peaceful place," she added.
Miranda English statement
What they're saying:
English says the damage has taken away some of the things she considered irreplaceable.
"The angels and stuff that was on his grave, his dad had got him and his dad is laying next to him now, so there's stuff that can't be replaced," she said, adding the experience has changed the way she feels about visiting the cemetery. "I don't even like to come down here now."
English says she believes the person accused in the case needs help.
"[I want] for her to get help. I don't really necessarily want her to be for the way in jail. I want her get mental help," English said.
The Source: Information for this story came from an interview with Miranda English and information from the Pasco County Sheriff’s Office.