Woman says she paid more than $1,000 for headstone, but there’s no record; police investigate former owner

MIAMI TWP. — There are more complaints about a Dayton-area monument business.

Earlier this month, News Center 7’s Monica Castro reported about complaints made against American Memorial Monuments, 8929 Kingsridge Drive. There were at least a dozen headstones never provided to customers.

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Now, Terina Turner said she has receipts that she has paid more than $1,000 for a headstone to mark her husband’s gravesite. But the new owners say there is no record of her order.

“That’s my husband and I miss him dearly,” she said.

After Dale Turner died, she turned to American Memorial Monuments for a headstone to honor her husband’s final resting place.

“I spoke with a Bonita and Darren and ever since then, I can go in there and pay money, but I can never get them to reply to me, to sign off on a final product,” she said.

Miami Twp. police said they are investigating the business’ former owner, Darren Boykins.

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“Darren said, ‘we are cutting out the middle man, we are giving it to you for while lot cheaper,’” Turner said.

She said she paid more than $1,000 for the stone, and that her son-in-law wanted to pay off the final $700 as a gift to her.

But he couldn’t. She said American Memorial Monuments didn’t have a record of her putting money down.

Boykin never returned calls seeking comment.

The new owners said American Memorial Monuments is no longer in business. They filed for a new company and right now are working on fixing problems they believe were caused by Boykin, the previous owner.

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The new co-owner said he hasn’t been able to find Turner’s records, and that he believes it’s because the previous owner, Boykin, may not have documented it.

“It broke my heart, cause I worked hard to have my money and get my husband a nice headstone,” Turner said. “I just can’t believe this is happening.”

Turner said she’s devastated, but she just wants her stone, or a refund at this point.

“All I can say is God, mercy on their souls. They may get by with whatever here on Earth but they’ll answer to it in their next life,” she said.