The late Addison Jenkins’ family sued a funeral home in New Jersey last month, claiming that the wrong body was placed in their loved one’s clothing and coffin before a public viewing. The Boyd Funeral Home in Camden is accused of causing emotional distress and handling human remains carelessly in the case that was filed on September 5 in New Jersey Superior Court and acquired by People.
The family is now requesting a jury trial in the lawsuit and is demanding both punitive and compensatory damages, according to the complaint.
Jenkins passed away on February 11, 2023, and his family arranged with Boyd Funeral Services for a public viewing at Faith Tabernacle on February 18 and cremation on February 19, the complaint says.
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According to the complaint, his widow prepared for the services and final internment by bringing his clothing and personal things to the funeral home on February 15 ahead of the viewing.
However, according to the complaint, the family showed up at the funeral home the day before the viewing and “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 plaintiffs were shocked, upset, confused, and full of tears.”
Furthermore, according to the complaint, an employee showed them text messages from the funeral director confirming that the body was Jenkins’, given that the director was not there to address their anxieties. The funeral home’s makeup artist also reassured the family that it was Jenkins’ body. However, as stated in the lawsuit, there was a standoff between the family and the funeral home staff over the body in the casket.
To prove that it was their relative, the funeral director also forwarded pictures to Jenkins’ family. The family protested, pointing out that the other body didn’t have a cauliflower ear, but Jenkins did. The family also claimed that Jenkins had a significant infection on his feet.
The relatives of the deceased requested that the director open the casket on the scheduled viewing day so that they could see his body and feet. The family verified that Jenkins was in the coffin this time.
Still, the complaint read, “As a result of the above. Plaintiffs have become emotional 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.”
According to Jenkins’ family, they have “suffered and continue to suffer severe emotional distress and damages” as a result of Boyd Funeral Homes’ allegedly “negligent acts and omissions.” The funeral home was also charged with “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 Plaintfifs.”
Michael Shaw, a lawyer for the plaintiffs, wrote in a statement that was shared with People: “What happened to the Jenkins family and their late loved one, Addison Jenkins, is disturbing and reprehensible. To twist the knife, once the Jenkins family informed the funeral home of the wrongful conduct, the callous response was to point blame at my clients by persistently telling them that the wrong and unidentified body was their late loved one. Gaslighting a grieving family after displaying the wrong corpse is cruel and ignoble.”
