by An new lawsuit filed this week claims that two funeral homes sent the parents of a deceased kid their son’s brain in a box, which started to smell, seeped into their car, and ended up on the father’s hands when he moved it.
At a news conference on Thursday, the father, Lawrence Butler, said the revelation was shocking and left a terrible memory that taints the other recollections of their son Timothy Garlington, a wonderful young man.
“I got in my car and I smelled death,” he recounted, his voice shaking with emotion. “It was, and it is still, in my heart.” Abbey Butler, Garlington’s mother, was standing close by, dabbing at her tears.
Following Garlington’s passing in 2023, the Butlers arranged for his remains to be transported from one Georgia funeral facility to another in Pennsylvania, where they collected his possessions, including a white cardboard box that included an unmarked red box.The Butlers discovered that their son’s brain was inside the red box they had been given. (Photo by NBC News) 10)
L. Chris Stewart, the Butlers’ lawyer, stated during the press conference that Abbey Butler was unable to access the red box at Nix & Nix Funeral Homes.
According to Stewart, the red box in the Butlers’ vehicle started to leak fluid and smell a few days later. The fluid, which was brain tissue, covered Lawrence Butler’s hands when he picked it up. “That’s crazy,” Stewart remarked.
They were informed that it was Garlington’s brain and that an error had occurred when they contacted Southern Cremations & Funerals in Cheatham Hill in Georgia, Stewart said. He said the Butlers gave the box back to Nix & Nix.
When reached by the AP, ASV Partners, the business that owns Southern Cremations, declined to comment.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Stewart stated that the parents’ final memory is retaining their son’s brain.
Lawrence Butler stated, “I just couldn’t stand the idea that the remains were in that car,” so he had to get rid of it.
According to the lawsuit, both funeral establishments purposefully, wantonly, or deliberately caused emotional pain in addition to handling human remains negligently.
Stewart stated that he has spoken with other funeral houses and that the brain is never shipped or separated from the corpse in that way during the process. “If it is, it’s in a sealed bag and marked as biohazardous,” he said.Garlington, Timothy (picture from NBC News 10)
Stewart claims that Nix & Nix should not have given the package to the Butlers since it was not on the list of items delivered from Southern Cremations, regardless of whether they were aware that a brain was within.
The manager of the titular funeral home, Julian Nix, told the AP that Southern Cremations provided them the unlabeled box, therefore it was unquestionably not our fault.
According to Nix, after they discovered what was inside, they informed the authorities. He added that the state body that regulates funeral homes had conducted an examination and concluded that they were not at fault, but the supporting documentation was not yet available.
The Butlers are looking for explanations about what went wrong as well as compensation. Additionally, they hope that the action serves as a warning to prevent future occurrences of the same kind.
Garlington, a U.S. Marine veteran who worked in school financial assistance, is now buried at Washington Crossing National Cemetery. The Butlers still don’t know if Garlington’s brain was buried with the rest of him, Stewart added, declining to disclose how the 56-year-old passed away.
They worry, and it makes perfect sense: Is he sleeping peacefully? “I said.”
