The family of a slain soldier is caught up in a legal dispute with a cemetery in Cincinnati over whether or not they can keep a giant pair of headstones in the shape of the famous Nickelodeon cartoon character SpongeBob SquarePants.
Sgt. Kimberly Walker was found dead in her hotel room in Colorado Springs, Colo. on Valentines Day. Her boyfriend, Sgt. Montrell Mayo was charged with first-degree murder in her death.
The 28-year-old soldier was a big fan of the cartoon character and, according to her mother Deborah Walker's statement to WLWT-TV, even collected memorabilia from the show. Her love for the cartoon was so well known by her family that they even put SpongeBob into her casket before she was laid to rest in the cemetery.
The family purchased two 7,000-pound monuments in the shape of the character for more than $13,000 each. The family received approval for the headstones back in March, meaning they would be erected at Spring Grove Cemetery, according to RawStory.
The family also purchased six plots all together in the historic cemetery. The two 6-foot 8-inch statues each had a different uniform, with one dressed in U.S. Army attire for Kimberly and the other in U.S. Navy attire for her sister Kara who is serving as an IT Specialist.
"I thought it was the greatest thing in the cemetery," Kara Walker said. "I even told the people there that I think this is the best monument I've ever seen. It's the best headstone in the cemetery, and they all agreed. It came out really nice."
The monuments were installed on Oct. 10, but the family received a phone call from cemetery officials the following day that the headstones were inappropriate and had to be removed.
"As an historic cemetery, we must constantly balance the needs of families who have just suffered a loss with the thousands of families who have entrusted us in the past," said Gary Freytag, Spring Grove president and CEO.
Although the cemetery has offered to pay for replacement monuments that fit the Spring Grove's landscape and guidelines, Deborah Walker said her family thinks the SpongeBob monuments deserve to stay where they are.
"We bought the plots, all six of them," she said. "we put the monuments there, we did what we had to do and they said they could provide that service to us. "
Spring Grove Cemetery is the second largest in the U.S. and is recognized as a U.S. National Historic Landmark. The Walker family will meet with cemetery officials later this week to discuss a resolution to this issue.
