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A San Antonio appeals court has overturned a jury verdict of more than $1 million against Mission Park Funeral Chapels & Cemeteries over a funeral urn destroyed by an excavator during a 2021 burial service.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Hearst Connecticut Media file photo<\/p>\n
A San Antonio appeals court last week overturned a \u00a0more than $1 million jury award to three Bexar County family members, who alleged their mother’s urn was destroyed in 2021 at San Jose Burial Park. Shown is the entrance to the cemetery.<\/p>\n
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A San Antonio appeals court has overturned a jury verdict of more than $1 million<\/a> against Mission Park Funeral Chapels & Cemeteries<\/a> over an urn destroyed by an excavator during a 2021 burial service.\u00a0<\/p>\n Three siblings had sued Mission Park, co-owned by Richard \u201cDick\u201d Tips and his wife Kristin Tips, former chair of the Texas Funeral Service Commission, for negligence over the incident at San Jose Burial Park. Gov. Greg Abbott appointed her to the commission\u00a0in 2017 and she served as chair<\/a> from May 2024 until her controversial tenure ended with her\u00a0resignation in March.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n RELATED: Jury awards 3 Bexar County siblings over $1M after their mother\u2019s urn, ashes are destroyed<\/a><\/p>\n A jury found\u00a0Mission Park negligent and\u00a0awarded siblings\u00a0Deidre Kollars, Yvonne Rigal and Peter Moreno a combined $1.025 million in January 2025 for mental anguish. They alleged in a 2021 lawsuit that Mission Park \u201ccarelessly unearthed the wrong burial plot\u201d before a service for their father, Pedro G. Moreno\u00a0Jr., despite markers indicating where the burial should take place.<\/p>\n A cemetery caretaker dug the new burial plot with an excavator rather than a shovel, the siblings alleged. The excavator\u2019s arm broke their mother\u2019s urn, tore the bag holding the ashes and spread them in the dirt and grass, they said.<\/p>\n San Antonio Express News Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source on Google to see more of us when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n Diana Jane Moreno was 54 when she died on Sept. 30, 2005, but her urn was not interred until 2009. Peter Moreno Jr.\u2019s\u00a0urn was to be buried next to his wife\u2019s.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n It was one of various alleged mishaps at Mission Park. The most notorious occurred more than a decade ago and involved the disappearance of a 25-year-old woman\u2019s body before it could be cremated. A jury awarded the parents of Julie\u00a0Mott $8 million after finding the funeral home had been negligent. The parties later settled the dispute. The body has never been found.<\/p>\n Legal standard for mental anguish<\/p>\n In a ruling Wednesday, the 4th Court of Appeals<\/a> found that while\u00a0Kollars and her brother described a deeply unsettling experience, their testimony did not meet the legal standard for compensable mental anguish. It rendered a take-nothing judgment for Mission Park on the siblings\u2019 claims.<\/p>\n Justices Lori I.\u00a0Valenzuela<\/a> and H. Todd\u00a0McCray<\/a> also set aside the $500,000 awarded to\u00a0Rigal and ordered a new trial on her claim even though they found she presented enough evidence of her mental anguish. The court said Rigal gave evidence of ongoing effects on her daily life — she had breakdowns in the shower triggered by memories of the incident and sought grief counseling. Her counselor and daughter also described her crying, anxiety and depression.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The two justices added that a jury will consider whether the city of San Antonio shares responsibility for the incident because it owned and operated San Jose Burial\u00a0Park in 2009 when Peter Moreno Jr. arranged to have his wife\u2019s remains buried.<\/p>\n The city later leased the cemetery to Mission Park.<\/p>\n Is city responsible?<\/p>\n Prior to the trial, Mission Park sought to designate the city as a responsible third party because its records had the wrong location for Diana Moreno\u2019s urn. If not for the city\u2019s negligence, Mission Park alleged, \u201cthe event giving rise to this lawsuit would not have occurred.\u201d<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n The siblings objected, and state District Judge\u00a0Antonia \u2018Toni\u2019 Arteaga<\/a> agreed, leaving jurors to decide only whether Mission Park was negligent.<\/p>\n The jury awarded\u00a0$175,000 to Kollars and $350,000 to Peter Moreno.<\/p>\n RELATED:\u00a0San Antonio funeral home trial over switched bodies ends as jury deliberates<\/a><\/p>\n Justice Adrian A. Spears II<\/a> agreed that\u00a0Kollars and her brother\u2019s\u00a0claims should be dismissed. But he dissented from sending Rigal\u2019s claim back for trial, reasoning that Mission Park did not handle Diana Moreno\u2019s remains when they were originally buried and therefore had no legal relationship with her family. He concluded all three siblings should take nothing on their claims.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Mark Macias<\/a>, a San Antonio attorney representing Mission Park, and Anthony Malley, a Beaumont lawyer representing the siblings, didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment Monday.<\/p>\n Another case heading to trial<\/p>\n Macias also represents\u00a0Mission Park in a pending lawsuit brought by Mary Lou Salinas\u2019\u00a0family, who allege the funeral home mixed up her body with\u00a0Catalina R. Cervantes\u2019\u00a0in November 2020. Salinas was allegedly buried next\u00a0to Cervantes\u2019\u00a0husband. The Cervanteses\u2019 sons later settled a negligence lawsuit with Mission Park in April 2025 while jurors were deliberating during the trial, which lasted more than a week. The amount was not disclosed.<\/p>\n Salinas\u2019\u00a0family filed a similar negligence lawsuit. San Antonio attorney Alex Katzman<\/a> represents both families.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n<\/p>\n