Sacked cemetery worker faces criminal charges for dancing in grave

The expression "dancing on someone's grave" was taken literally by 27-year-old Christopher Redd. He says he intended to enter a radio contest with a music video of himself lip syncing in a burial plot. "I was attempting to win tickets to Rock Jam by uploading it to Facebook and YouTube," says Redd.

However, the Grand Junction Memorial Gardens burial worker received backlash for his dancing with a shovel, even though Redd says the grave was empty. "There is no body in there." He says he was actually dancing on a burial vault. The coffin goes inside the vault, keeping the surrounding burial ground free of contamination.



After the family of the deceased found out about the video, they contacting the Mesa County Sheriff's Office. Redd was fired, and is now facing grave consequences with a pending criminal investigation. Deputies are investigating possible charges for "desecration of venerated objects," a misdemeanor offence. Whether or not the coffin was actually occupied will determine if Redd is charged.

However, he says his cell phone proves the cadaverous rendition was a day before the burial. "That is a time and date stamp on my phone when the video was taken. It was taken July 22, the day before the funeral service happened," says Redd. Whether or not charges are pressed, Redd says he's sorry to the family he offended, for what many consider a disrespectful display. "I do apologize to the family. I didn't mean any disrespect or anything like that from it."

With news video. You can see the actual video here.