A Pennsylvania family is suing two funeral homes after they say they were sent a box containing their late son’s brain, an experience they described as traumatizing and deeply disturbing.
Abbey and Lawrence Butler, whose 56-year-old son Timothy Garlington died in Georgia on Nov. 15, 2023, filed a lawsuit in Philadelphia alleging gross negligence and emotional distress. Garlington had been living in Georgia, prompting the family to coordinate his arrangements through both Southern Cremations & Funerals in Marietta and Nix & Nix Funeral Home in Philadelphia.
According to the complaint reviewed by Law&Crime, the Butlers were told that a package from Nix & Nix contained their son’s “personal effects and belongings.” However, when Lawrence Butler opened the outer white box, he found a red box inside that began leaking fluid and emitting a foul odor while sitting in his car.
Inside that box, the lawsuit claims, was their son’s brain.
During a press conference Thursday at the Wapner Newman law offices in Center City, the family’s attorney, L. Chris Stewart of Stewart Miller Simmons Trial Attorneys, called the delivery of the organ a “horrifying failure” of basic standards and dignity. He emphasized that the white box had not been listed on the official inventory of Garlington’s belongings.
Lawrence Butler became visibly emotional as he described the discovery.
“It was—and still is—in my heart,” he said. “I got in my car and I smelled death. I had to get rid of that car. I just couldn’t stand the idea that the remains were in that car.”
Stewart said the Butlers were never told that Garlington’s brain had been removed or shipped separately. After speaking with other funeral professionals, he said there was no justification or procedural basis for such a separation.
“There is no point in the process where the brain should be separated from the body and delivered in this way,” he said.
The Butlers initially left the red box in their car, unaware of its contents. Days later, Lawrence noticed the odor and leaking fluid. After bringing the box inside, he allegedly came into direct contact with brain tissue, according to the suit. The couple later learned from the Georgia funeral home that the box indeed contained Garlington’s brain and that its delivery to them was a “mistake.”
The box was eventually returned to Nix & Nix. A spokesperson for the funeral home reportedly told a local reporter that an internal investigation was underway, though attorney Stewart said he had not been informed of any such inquiry. NBC affiliate WCAU reported that the state board cleared Nix & Nix of wrongdoing, stating the funeral home was unaware of the box’s contents.
The Butlers say they have not received an apology or explanation from either funeral provider.
The lawsuit, filed with co-counsel Samuel Anyan Jr. of Wapner Newman, accuses both funeral homes of negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress, citing “willful misconduct, malice, and a complete lack of care, dignity, and respect.” The family is seeking both punitive and compensatory damages.
Efforts to reach Southern Cremations & Funerals and Nix & Nix Funeral Home for comment were unsuccessful as of publication.
