Parents sue Marietta funeral home, claim dead son’s brain was given to them in a box

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - A couple in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against two funeral homes after their son’s brain was allegedly given to them in a box by accident.

Filed in Philadelphia County court in Pennsylvania, the suit accuses Philadelphia’s Nix & Nix Funeral Home and Marietta’s Southern Cremations & Funerals of negligence, inflicting emotional distress and other wrongdoings.

According to the suit, the pair’s son, Timothy Garlington, died on Nov. 15, 2023. Garlington was living in Georgia when he passed away, and the family hired the funeral homes to ship their son’s body to Pennsylvania and handle his affairs.

About a week after his death, the couple went to Nix & Nix Funeral Home to pick up his personal items, which included an unmarked red box inside a larger cardboard box. Curious about what it contained, they tried to open the box but couldn’t, according to the suit.

The couple realized something was wrong when the box started smelling and leaking in their car. When they removed the box, the liquid splashed onto them, according to the suit.

The parents later learned the box allegedly contained their son’s brain matter.

“It was, and it is still, in my heart that I got in my car and I smelled death,” Garlington’s father said. “I had to get rid of that car. I just couldn’t stand the idea that the remains were in that car.”

The lawsuit calls the incident “extreme and outrageous” and demands compensatory and punitive damages.

The family is represented by Atlanta-based and Philadelphia-based attorneys.

“It’s something out of a horror movie,” attorney L. Chris Stewart said. “It wasn’t marked, no biohazard label, no ‘do not open,’ nothing. Just a box along with his personal items that were for the family.”

Atlanta News First has contacted the Marietta funeral home for comment. A staff member hung up the phone twice when a reporter called.

This is a developing story. Check back with Atlanta News First as we learn more.