Nationwide — The mother of Zah’Layah Walton, the 5-year-old African American girl shot and killed in a road rage shooting in Cypress, Texas, says her family was promised free funeral services but later received a bill for nearly $10,000. The dispute has raised questions about what the family was told during a painful time and how the funeral home handled Zah’Layah’s remains after her death.
Zah’Layah was killed on Sept. 19 while riding in her mother Monica Hicks’ car with four other children. Authorities say Jeremy Porter, 47, opened fire after mistakenly believing Hicks’ vehicle belonged to someone else. He now faces a capital murder charge, and if convicted, he could receive life in prison without parole or the death penalty.
Just three days after the shooting, Hicks said employees from Pruitt’s In The Heights Funeral Home contacted her and approached her at a courthouse hearing. She said the funeral home director later publicly offered to handle Zah’Layah’s funeral at no cost to the family. During that difficult period, Hicks signed paperwork but said she could not remember what the documents contained, according to Atlanta Black Star.
The situation became more complicated when Hicks received an itemized statement totaling nearly $10,000. Community activists questioned why the funeral home had taken Zah’Layah’s remains from the medical examiner’s office before the family had finalized a written agreement. Civil rights advocates Dr. Candice Matthews and Quanell X spoke alongside Hicks at a Sept. 24 news conference outside the Houston funeral home. Matthews said she had filed a complaint with state funeral regulators, while Quanell X called for an investigation into how the arrangements were handled.
Funeral home director Linda Davis disputed the family’s account. She said the bill was required because funeral homes must provide an itemized statement when someone makes funeral arrangements under Federal Trade Commission rules. Davis also denied that the business collected Zah’Layah’s remains without permission. During the news conference, she told Hicks, “Mom, you did authorize us to pick up your daughter.” Hicks and her supporters, however, continued to question whether the family understood the terms of the arrangements and argued that the promised free services should not have resulted in the bill.
The family ultimately moved Zah’Layah’s remains from Pruitt’s In The Heights Funeral Home to Signature Funeral Home, which agreed to provide the funeral services at no charge. Hicks and her relatives are still raising money for the burial and a cemetery plot. Their GoFundMe campaign has raised nearly $16,000 so far.