BEXAR COUNTY – The husband of a woman found shot to death has filed suit against the victim’s mother claiming she doesn’t have the right to decide what to do with the victim’s remains.
Kylie Warren, 26, was found fatally shot in the head Oct. 23 in the kitchen of a home near Converse.
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“My daughter being killed the way she was broke me,” said Cherin Ehlke, Warren’s mother.
Ehlke held funeral services for Warren and wants her buried in a family plot out of state.
But legal action has put any burial plans on hold.
John Garza, Warren’s husband, filed a petition against Ehlke claiming she “wrongfully held herself out as the person with the right to control the disposition of the remains” of Warren.
The suit also claims Ehlke held funeral services for Warren without notifying or inviting Garza.
Garza’s attorney, Joseph Ecke, said in a statement Monday,
“John Garza is grieving the tragic and unexpected passing of his wife, Kylie, and appreciates that we all respect his privacy during this difficult time. Unfortunately, the lawsuit was necessary because Cherin Ehlke, Kylie’s mother, wrongfully exerted control over Kylie’s remains by telling the Bexar County Medical Examiner’s Office that Kylie was not married. Ms. Ehlke then maintained to Mission Park Funeral Home North that Kylie had no husband. The law is clear that a person’s spouse is the one who has the rights and duties of control over the disposition of their remains. We can think of nothing more disruptive to the grieving process than the actions Cherin Ehlke has undertaken to hide from and exclude Kylie’s husband, and we are confident that Mr. Garza will prevail and ultimately be allowed to determine what happens with Kylie’s body.”
Ehlke says the couple had been separated for months, which she claims she conveyed to the medical examiner’s office, and that Warren was ready to file for divorce before she was killed.
She also alleges Garza and her daughter had a tumultuous relationship.
According to Bexar County court records, Warren filed a protective order against Garza in 2012 and in February 2016.
Both cases were eventually dismissed.
Ehlke hopes this case regarding her daughter’s remains will ultimately lead to a family burial.
“It will at least give me closure that she's there,” Ehlke said. “And someday, I will be able to be next to her.”
For now, Warren’s body is being held at Mission Park North Funeral Home.
Garza is seeking "monetary relief of $100,000 or less."
The case heads to court Wednesday morning.
Meanwhile, the Bexar County Sheriff’s Office said Monday it has no new developments in the murder investigation.