A San Jose family says a routine request for their late son's clothing turned into a horror they can never unsee, after a funeral home allegedly sent them home with a bag that contained brain tissue instead of garments. The family has now filed a lawsuit accusing the Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel of mishandling human remains and trying to cover up what happened. Their son, 27-year-old Alexander Piñon, died on May 19 and was buried at Oak Hill Memorial Park. The complaint says the family paid more than $10,000 for a full-service memorial package and is now working to reunite Alex's brain with the rest of his body.
What the Lawsuit Alleges
The family's attorney, Samer Habbas, filed the complaint and says the family had simply asked the funeral home to return Alex's clothing. "They wanted to do what's right for their son," Habbas told ABC7 News. According to the suit, the funeral home charged the family more than $10,000 for a "full-service memorial tribute," and Alex's father was handed a sealed bag he believed contained those clothes. The complaint seeks damages and a full accounting of how Alexander's remains were handled.
Who Ran the Services
Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel, part of the national Dignity Memorial network, handled arrangements for Alexander Elias Piñon. The funeral home's online obituary lists his May 19, date of death and identifies Lima Family as the arranging mortuary. That obituary notes his burial at Oak Hill Memorial Park and confirms that Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel managed the service under the Dignity Memorial brand that now sits at the center of the family's complaint.
State Rules and Complaints
Funeral homes in California operate under the oversight of the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau at the Department of Consumer Affairs, which maintains a complaint process and has the authority to investigate and discipline licensees for misconduct. The state's Business and Professions Code also makes refusing to surrender custody of human remains grounds for disciplinary action under Justia. Families with concerns can file complaints with the Cemetery and Funeral Bureau while also pursuing civil claims like the one now pending in this case.
Alleged Mishandling and Next Steps
The complaint says Alex's father took the sealed bag home, placed the contents into the washing machine, and then saw "brain material" tumble out when the cycle began. According to the lawsuit, he returned the bag to the funeral home, and weeks later a whistleblower there allegedly confirmed the material was Alex's brain. The suit further claims the funeral director put the brain in a box and left it in the chapel's courtyard for roughly two and a half months, until an employee discovered it and was overcome by the smell.
Service Corporation International, the parent company that operates Lima Family under the Dignity Memorial brand, told reporters it would not comment because of the active litigation. An office manager said the director named in the suit had recently left the job. The family's attorneys say they are now negotiating a plan to reunite Alex's brain with his remains at Oak Hill Memorial Park while the lawsuit moves forward.
