KALAMAZOO, Mich. — Crystal Norton’s brother Charles said it was hard losing his sister. She was killed in a head-on collision in early January by a teenage driver who was fleeing from police. The community rallied to support him and his family during the difficult weeks after. A GoFundMe page was even created, raising over $3000 to help the family cover funeral expenses.
However, Norton said he has not seen a dime of that money.
“Justin paid for the funeral out of his own pocket. He went in debt to make sure my sister had a proper service and that my niece could have closure,” said Norton of Crystal’s boyfriend at the time Justin Boze. "Someone created a GoFundMe page. There has been a lot of controversy about where this money is going.”
Norton said he does not recognize the creator’s name on the GoFundMe page and noticed the date of Crystal’s death was wrong. He keeps in contact with Boze and spoke to him this week. He said he still hasn’t seen the money or heard from anyone about the page.
“That GoFundMe page specifically says Crystal's Funeral," said Norton who has the receipt. “If that money was not used for Crystal's funeral, and I can prove that it was not, that is fraud. And the authorities should be involved.”
Norton said he is currently seeking legal advice about how best to move forward with the situation. Fox 17 reached out to GoFundMe and the creator of the page and are still awaiting a response. Norton said he will not stop until he gets answers. He wants people to be held accountable for their actions.
“I'm not going to let this go,” said Norton. “To me, since whoever created this GoFundMe page has not paid Justin back the money, this was fraud.”
