MOODY, Texas — After a 107-year-old African American cemetery in Moody was vandalized last Tuesday, a Bryan couple said they will fix the damaged gravesites for free.
Someone had driven over the graves at Mount Zion Cemetery, destroying headstones and tarnishing memories along the way.
When Lashaunda Mitchell heard that someone ran their vehicle straight through the cemetery, she said she immediately thought about her older brother.
"I was hoping it wasn't his stone, but when we went out there it was," said Mitchell.
Her brother, Shannon Long, was laid to rest at the cemetery five years ago.
Terrance Mitchell, Lashaunda's husband, said they were planning on touching up the headstone before the vandalism happened.
Moody's Mt. Zion Cemetery vandalized
"We put that stone out there in 2014,” said Terrance Mitchell. “We were already planning to come out here to do some work to it, but to come and see it flipped over with tire marks hurt pretty bad.”
The couple owns T&L Stones in Bryan, so they have experience in creating and repairing headstones. They quickly drove to Moody this weekend, so Terrance could fix his brother-in-law's headstone.
"I put new concrete down there, then set the base back on top, got the top part set the base down and glued it back together," said Terrance Mitchell.
The two have offered to fix and clean the remaining damaged gravesites free of charge for the affected Moody families.
"I felt their pain," said LaShaunda Mitchell. "When I saw my brothers stone ran over and I kept walking and I saw their stones, I couldn’t imagine how they felt. We want to help honor their loved ones like we did ours."
If you need your loved one's headstone repaired, go to the T&L Stones website here or call the Mitchells at 979-217-1795.
The McLennan County Sheriff Department said it is still looking into the incident.
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