Family Files Lawsuit After Deceased Black Man’s Brain Was Sent To Parents By Funeral Homes In Philadelphia And Georgia

A couple is suing two funeral homes in Philadelphia and Georgia for allegedly sending them their deceased son’s brain in 2023.

Yes, you read that right.

According to NBC News, Lawrence and Abbey Butler filed a lawsuit against Nix & Nix Funeral Homes in Philadelphia and Southern Cremations & Funerals in Georgia. The couple claims they were sent what was supposed to be a box of things that belonged to their son, Timothy Garlington, a Philly-born Georgia resident who died on Nov. 15, 2023, but the box also contained their son’s brain matter.

From NBC:

 The Butlers said they hired Southern Cremations & Funerals as well as Nix & Nix Funeral Homes to handle their son’s funeral arrangements.

The lawsuit claims Southern Cremations & Funerals in Georgia transported Garlington’s body to Nix & Nix Funeral Homes in Philadelphia on Nov. 20, 2023. When the Butlers received their son’s personal items, they noticed a white, unmarked box, according to the lawsuit. The couple said they noticed something inside the box began to smell and leak fluid in their car. They then discovered their son’s brain and brain matter were inside the box, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit accuses the funeral homes of negligence in their handling of human remains as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress.

The Butlers are represented by attorneys L. Chris Stewart and Alex Perwich of Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys in Atlanta and Samuel Anyan Jr. of Wapner Newman in Philadelphia.

Meanwhile, the owner of Nix & Nix Funeral Home told NBC Philadelphia that he and his employees were unaware there was brain matter in the box they sent to the Butlers, offering the explanation that they never actually opened it and assumed it only contained Garlington’s personal effects.

“The owner said when another funeral home sends remains to them, everything should be intact,” NBC reported. “They said the state board did a thorough investigation and cleared them of wrongdoing.” The Pennsylvania Department of State told the outlet it can’t confirm or deny whether any funeral home is under investigation currently or in the past.

This horrific case is eerily similar to one we reported on earlier this month involving a Virginia funeral home accused of allowing a deceased Black man’s body to be covered in maggots at the time his family came to view it.

 24-year-old Torreon Williams died tragically and unexpectedly in a car crash in May 2022, and his mother, Tabitha Worrell, claimed in a lawsuit filed by the family that the day they went to Snellings Funeral Home to view his body, they were horrified to discover his face and body were covered with maggots, and she was told by a Snellings employee, “Don’t you make a scene.” Another employee reportedly explained that Williams was covered in maggots because “the flies got to him,” which, much like the excuse allegedly given to Garlington’s parents, isn’t a satisfying explanation as it only explains what happened, not how it was allowed to happen.

How did the files get to Williams’ body and why did the employees at Snellings allow the body to be presented to his family that way? Why didn’t the employees at Nix & Nix open the box of Garlington’s things to make sure everything looked right before sending it to his parents? These funeral homes are being sued for negligence, not ignorance. It’s not about what they didn’t know; it’s about why they didn’t know it until it was too late to correct it.

These are mistakes that caused unimaginable distress to families that were already grieving an unfathomable loss.

These families deserved better, and now they deserve justice.

SEE ALSO:

Virginia Funeral Home Faces Lawsuit After Black Man Was Allegedly Found Covered In Maggots During Viewing

Mississippi County Reaches $2.5M Settlement With Black Men Invaded And Tortured By Cops

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