HOUSTON – A daughter said she nearly missed her father’s funeral service after she started questioning whether the service director had a license.
The woman, Lashon Carter from Louisiana reached out to KPRC 2 after seeing our report from Bryce Newberry.
On Friday, Harris County Pct. 1 Constable Alan Rosen announced the arrest of Javian Major and Sandy Broussard. According to the Constable, the two lied about being licensed funeral directors.
Lashon Carter tells KPRC 2′s Rilwan Balogun that Javian Major allegedly tried to pull a similar scam with her in 2022 when her 55-year-old father, Dwayne Michael Sumner, died of a heart attack.
“He was giving me the rundown of how he’s trying to help my father. Because he knew my father’s significant other, ‘I’m trying to help her. I know he was a good man. I want to give y’all a good deal on this,’” she said.
Carter said shortly after his death, Major called her, telling her he had her father’s body and offered to do the service for $31,000.
“He called and told me that he’s embalming my father’s body and that I need to send him the fee for that. He kept on pressing me about sending him the (insurance) policy,” Carter said. “He was telling me if I didn’t send him the policy he was going to block me from getting the death certificate.”
When Carter tried to pick up his father’s body, she said Major had blocked her number. She found out through a co-worker that her father’s funeral service was held in Houston and in New Orleans the next day.
“My original plan was I wanted to bring my dad home. Home is Louisiana,” she said.
On Friday, during a news conference, families claimed Major posed as a “licensed funeral director and mortician” according to investigators. Both Major and Broussard paired up by forging the signatures of beneficiaries and getting life insurance money from the deceased.
Major, who is facing felony forgery charges, appeared before a judge Monday morning. He was issued a $10,000 bond.
Broussard is charged with felony theft.
Carter had filed several complaints with the Texas Funeral Services Commission.
The executive director of the Funeral Services Commission tells Balogun that Major is not a licensed funeral director or mortician with the state of Texas.
Statement from the Texas Funeral Services Commission:
“We are very, very grateful for the compassion for the earnestness of Lt. Christopher Horan and the leadership of Constable Alan Rosen. We are very honored by their body of work. We know that this is just the beginning. I would say to all of my fellow Texans, I know during the loss of a loved one there’s a lot going through our minds, doing a little pre-planning always helps. Always, ideally, we would say sitting down with a Texas licensed funeral director in a Texas licensed [facility] is the best way to honor your loved one.” -- James White, Executive Director, Texas Funeral Services Commission