Families sue Brooklyn funeral home storing decomposing bodies in U-Hauls

'Because of the gruesome condition of the remains, the family was forced to agree to a closed casket burial'

A Brooklyn funeral home that was caught storing decomposing bodies in U-Haul trucks is facing four lawsuits filed by family members of the deceased.

Andrew T Cleckley Funeral Services was shuttered following the grim discovery, and will now face a quartet of lawsuits from people upset by the company's decision to store bodies in trucks.

The funeral home said it had to store the bodies in the trucks due to the increased number of deaths due to the coronavirus.

According to the New York Post, the lawsuits claim the funeral home mishandled their loved ones' remains and inflicted "intentional" "emotional distress." A complaint in one of the lawsuits claims the funeral home's actions were "so outrageous in character, and so extreme in degree, as to go beyond all possible bounds of decency."

Three of the lawsuits do not disclose the damages they are seeking. One of the lawsuits is seeking at least $1.25m in damages.

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One lawsuit detailed the travails of the mother and sister of Terry Roberts, who died on 31 March, as they sought to see their loved one's body.

The funeral home took the body into its care on 7 April to embalm and prepare it for a family visitation and viewing.

When the family attempted to see the remains, the funeral home "made excuses about not having room for visitation with the remains" before agreeing to conduct a "video viewing." The funeral home told the family that the mother of the deceased shouldn't participate in the viewing because the body had reached an advanced stage of decay.

"To the devastation of the family, it was clear that the defendants had allowed their loved one's remains to putrefy and decay," the lawsuit claims. "Because of the gruesome condition of the remains, the family was forced to agree to a closed casket burial."

Two other funeral homes in Brooklyn were named as co-defendants in the other three suits. The funeral homes - Armistead Burial and Cremation Services and DeKalb Funeral Services - are accused of giving bodies to the Cleckly home home without first notifying the families.

In a lawsuit naming Armistead, the family members of Hermite Mercius - who died on 18 April - asked for a photo of their loved one's remains to ensure they were being well treated. They received a photo that "did not look like their beloved sister and aunt" and so asked for more photos.

The plaintiffs never heard back from the funeral.

"To their horror, on May 6, 2020, Hermite Mercius' family learned from the Medical Examiner's Office that her uncreamated remains were found among the many dozens of bodies found stuffed into an unrefrigerated U-Haul and stacked inside a small room at Cleckley," the suit said.

Cleckley was shut down after police responded to complaints about foul odours emanating and strange liquids seeping from the back of rental vehicles.