Just as a New Jersey family was about to lower the casket of their loved ones into the ground, it was raised again, shocking family members. According to a lawsuit the wrong body was found in the casket.
Family members of Kyung Ja Kim and Yoonsung Kim, 93, and Jungmi Kim Wilder, Kummi Kim and Yoonsung Kim are suing Central Funeral Home of New Jersey and Blackley Funeral Home and Cremation Services, for $50 million.
According to the lawsuit, defendants “intentionally and negligently inflicted severe emotional distress”Upon the Kim family.
“The last memory of her was very painful and disturbing and horrible,”Kummi Kim was the daughter of the father and told WABC.
According to the lawsuit Kyung Ja Kim was found dead in Englewood Cliffs on Nov. 10, 2021. According to the suit, the mother’s body was transported later on Nov. 10 to prepare for the Nov. 13 funeral at a church in Leonia, New Jersey.
“Many family members traveled long distances to celebrate the passing of the [Kyung Ja Kim] in the congregation that she helped to establish and participated in over many years,”According to the lawsuit.
Kummi, however, told a funeral director when she saw the body in its casket on the morning of November 13th. “did not appear”According to the lawsuit, she was her mother.
Kummi was implied by the employee “did not appreciate a different appearance after death,”The lawsuit states that Kummi was the plaintiff “rationalized that the ‘altered appearance’ was attributable to the embalming process and application of heavy mortuary makeup, fake hair and/or some type of filler such as Botox.”
The family traveled to Valhalla, New York, after the church service for the burial.
The lawsuit alleges that five minutes after cemetery employees began to lower the casket into the plot, the funeral home employee showed a photo of a body to Kummi Kim, who Kummi Kim confirmed was her mother, which was still at the funeral home.
Because of the mix-up, the employee alerted the cemetery to “pull the casket back out,” according to the suit, and the casket was returned to the funeral home.
“This was all done to the surprise of the [family] and without discussion nor explanation,”According to the lawsuit.
Family members were left confused by the alleged confusion about the bodies. “psychologically numb and distraught by the above revelation and shocking events at grave site,”According to the lawsuit.
“How sad it is, guilty, shameful, humiliation… We never can get rid of it,” Kummi Kim told WABC.
According to the lawsuit employees at Central Funeral Home offered to reimburse the family $9,000 for funeral costs and services.
The lawsuit asserts that the right to interment is being lost. The total amount of the lawsuit is $50 million.
According to the lawsuit, Kyung Ja Kim was 20 years younger than the woman found in the casket. The deceased also had her own teeth, unlike Kyung ja Kim, who had dentures.
According to the funeral home staff, the dentures were placed under the casket’s pillow with the wrong body. “to add to the shock and disgust over the mishandling of the decedent’s body,”According to the lawsuit.
Kyung Ja Kim’s burial ended up being a day later without the church service the family hoped for, and without several family members as the travel plans of many who traveled a long distance for the memorial service did not permit staying another day.
“I feel very sad and angry that we couldn’t accomplish her final wish, that she wanted to say bye to us at the church,” Kummi Kim, Kyung Ja Kim’s daughter, told News 4 New York.
Inside Edition Digital reached out the funeral homes but they have yet to respond to our requests.