‘A long road': Mother awaiting her son's memorial bench at cemetery
MORAINE, Ohio (WDTN) — A mother's grieving period has stretched over the course of roughly five years.
In late 2016, Asiah Hughes lost her 21-year-old son. Leo Montgomery was killed during a shooting at an area Roosters location.
Hughes wanted to honor her son with a memorial bench that would be installed by his grave at West Memory Gardens in Moraine. Although her intent was to spend more time with him and sit by his gravesite, it seemingly turned into a long nightmare.
'He was a good kid. If he loves you, he loves you,' said Hughes. 'It was the most devastating day of my life.'
In 2019, Hughes wanted to install a memorial bench in Leo's name. The process and payments began, but there is still no bench today.
'My price was $3,697.88, which is what this bench cost,' said Hughes.
According to Leo's mother, she was working with someone who worked at the cemetery where her son is buried. That worker is said to have come to Hughes's home to collect the payments because of COVID-19.
With time passing, no progress was visibly shown. Hughes contacted a number of people at the cemetery, but nothing was working.
On the anniversary of Leo's death, Hughes received a phone call saying the bench order had been cancelled due to lack of payment.
'That was devastating. That was devastating to wake up to a phone call to say that his bench was canceled for nonpayment. It lit a fire underneath my feet,' said Hughes. 'I started immediately the next day. I cried about it that day, and I went through my emotions about it that day. My son's death, that you call me and tell me that his business has been canceled. But she tells me that it's being shipped out on the 27th of December. Which is it? Is it canceled or is it being shipped out on the 27th?'
She decided it was time to turn to 2 NEWS for help.
'I was in denial for a long time, I didn't want to deal with this part of it at all,' said Hughes. 'But in order for me to heal, I feel like this was a step that i needed to take.'
When Hughes reached out, 2 NEWS contacted the cemetery and Everstory Partners — its corporate office. WDTN received the following statement from the office:
Thank you for bringing this viewer's concern to our attention. We have reviewed her file and note that we do not yet have a final design for Ms. Hughes' son's memorial bench. We have reached out to Ms. Hughes, and she is planning to come to our location tomorrow (Thursday, February 20) at 1:00 to review proposed designs and finalize the memorial. Once finalized, we will place an expedited order and hope to have an estimated delivery date in the coming weeks. We will install the bench immediately upon receipt and will send photographs to Ms. Hughes once installation is complete.
We have confirmed that Ms. Hughes does not owe any additional sums for the memorial bench.
Please let us know if you have additional questions. While we never like to hear that customers have received less than excellent customer service, I'm glad that we were able to not only identify the reason the bench had not yet been ordered, but also rectify the issue promptly. Thank you for your assistance in making this happen.'
Everstory Partners
After the meeting concluded, Hughes told 2 NEWS the meeting went very well and she was told that her bench will come in 3 to 6 months. She also said she is thankful for the new management of the cemetery helping her, as well as the effort from 2 NEWS.
'I gained a person. I gained a person that was really concerned about me,' said Hughes. 'I feel like without you guys, and without him, I don't know where I would be right now.'
Hughes did say that she will still consider her options when it comes to holding those who kept the bench away from her responsible. Most importantly, Hughes wants to ensure that another family doesn't have to have the same experience that she endured.
WDTN will be following Hughes's journey in the coming months.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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