Jan 08, 2025
PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — As if the murder of her daughter last month weren't enough heartache already for Latoya Saunders, what she noticed this week about her grave made it even worse. Saunders sent WAVY photos of holes in the dirt on the gravesite, and one of them exposed the corner of her daughter's purple casket. Emoni Randall-Rodgers, 21, was shot and killed in Baltimore Dec. 9. Saunders brought her daughter back to Portsmouth, where she graduated in 2021 from I.C. Norcom High School in 2021. Randall-Rodgers was buried in Lincoln Memorial Cemetery Dec. 23. Saunders said she has visited the grave in the city-owned graveyard religiously ever since. "Twice a day if it wasn't raining," Saunders said in a Wednesday morning interview. While her photos showed the holes and the corner of Randall-Rodgers casket, the holes were filled with fresh dirt by Wednesday morning. But the trauma had already been caused, Saunders insisted. She said Randall-Rodgers' casket was too close to the surface to begin with, as evidenced by the holes. "You could touch the top of her vault," Saunders said. "That's unacceptable. It's disrespect." Saunders said her daughter got caught up with a man who had threatened her life and tragically carried through with his threat. The situation with her grave has piled outrage on top of the tragedy. "I can't sleep, I can't eat [and] some days I can't even focus," she said. Although Portsmouth owns the cemetery, a spokesman said an outside contractor handles the burials. WAVY has contacted them and will update this story. Regardless, Saunders said Lincoln Memorial will not be her daughter's final resting place. "I told them I want my daughter removed," Saunders said.
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