Summary: The Pinon family alleges that Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel gave Alexander’s father a red biohazard bag he believed contained the son’s clothing, but the bag reportedly contained human brain matter. The father says he discovered the material after emptying the bag into his washing machine on June 4 and returned it to the funeral home the same day. The lawsuit further alleges staff later found the brain in a box left in the funeral home’s courtyard and that the family has suffered lasting emotional trauma; the parent company declined to comment due to active litigation.
Family Sues Funeral Home After Father Emptied Bag Believed To Contain Son’s Clothes — It Held Brain Matter, Lawsuit Says
Google MapsLima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel
The family of 27-year-old Alexander Pinon has filed a lawsuit alleging mishandling of his remains by a San Jose funeral business after his father says a bag given to him as his son’s clothing contained human brain matter.
According to the complaint filed Oct. 2 in Santa Clara Superior Court, Alexander died May 19 at a residence in Santa Clara. His relatives say they hired Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel in San Jose for a full-service memorial package costing more than $10,000, which the suit says included embalming, dressing and casketing. The family requested that Alexander be dressed in clothing different from the garments he had been wearing at the time of his death.
What the Suit Alleges
The complaint states that on June 4 Alexander’s father met with funeral director Annette Singh to collect his son’s previous clothes. Singh reportedly handed him a red bag labeled "biohazardous material" and indicated it contained the garments. After driving home, the father says he emptied the bag directly into his washing machine to clean the clothes and discovered it contained human brain matter.
According to the suit and statements from the family’s attorney, Samer Habbas, the father returned the bag to the funeral home that same day. The complaint alleges Singh took the bag without identifying whose tissue it was or offering an apology. A spokesperson for Service Corporation International, the parent company affiliated with the chapel, told PEOPLE it would not comment because of active litigation.
Alleged Subsequent Discovery
The family’s filing goes on to allege that Singh placed a box in the funeral business’s courtyard in June and said it contained clothing she planned to have cleaned. The complaint says the box remained there for weeks. By late August, an employee opened the box, found a red biohazard bag and — overwhelmed by the smell and appearance — realized the bag contained a deteriorated human brain. The suit claims funeral staff later concluded the tissue was Alexander’s.
The complaint asserts the family believes the funeral business still has possession of Alexander’s brain and his clothing. It also alleges that the defendants — identified as Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel, Lima Family Santa Clara Mortuary and Annette Singh — caused the family severe emotional distress, trauma and lasting psychological injury.
"Discovering one’s own child’s brain matter in a washing machine and then having to scoop it out, and later learning that part of your loved one’s body was hidden and left to rot, is a horror no family should ever endure," the complaint states.
Other Details
Alexander’s funeral services were held June 5 at Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery and the family says his body has since been buried. KGO reported that a chapel office manager said Singh left the company two weeks earlier, and that when a reporter went to Singh’s home she drove away without responding to questions.
Attorneys for the family are seeking to recover what they believe to be Alexander’s brain. Service Corporation International declined to comment on the pending litigation. The case remains under review in Santa Clara Superior Court.
