A New Jersey family has filed a lawsuit against a local funeral home after they saw the wrong, dead body in their loved one’s clothes and casket.
The lawsuit, filed on Sept. 5 in New Jersey Superior Court, accuses Boyd Funeral Home in Camden, New Jersey, of negligence in the handling of human remains and infliction of emotional distress. The family of the late Addison Jenkins, who died on Feb. 11, 2023, says they were left traumatized after going to pay their respects a day before a public viewing only to find another body in the casket.
“At or around 4:00 p.m. on Feb. 17, Plaintiffs approached the casket supposedly holding Addison and became immediately distressed and angered when they saw another unrecognizable corpse dressed in Addison’s clothes and belongings,” the complaint obtained by People alleged. “The Plaintiffs were shocked, upset, confused and full of tears.”
The family says the funeral director wasn’t present to address their concerns, but an employee showed text messages from the director stating that the body belonged to Jenkins. However, the family and funeral home staff “continued to disagree with each other as to whose body was in the casket,” the lawsuit states.
The complaint goes on to accuse the funeral director of sending photos to Jenkins’ family to confirm the identity of the body. However, the family disagreed, pointing out that Jenkins had a cauliflower ear, which the other body did not. They also noted that Jenkins had a noticeable infection on his feet, which was absent in the photos.
Jenkins had arranged his funeral at the funeral home ahead of his passing. His widow went to the funeral home on Feb. 15, 2023, to bring her late husband’s clothes and personal belongings in preparation for the services and final internment. However, two days later, the family was allegedly presented with another body.
“As a result of the above,” the complaint read, “Plaintiffs have become emotionally distraught. The Plaintiffs have been denied their right to grieve the death of their late loved one and, further, have been found to endure severe and ongoing emotional distress.”
The family says that as a result of Boyd Funeral Homes’s allegedly “negligent acts and omissions,” they have “suffered and continue to suffer severe emotional distress and damages,” the complaint states. It also accused the funeral home of “failing to use the accepted degree of professional skill as others in the same profession(s) and communities, constituting negligence and causing the infliction of severe emotional distress on the Plaintiffs.”
According to the complaint, the family is requesting a jury trial and seeking compensatory and punitive damages.
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