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Family sues funeral home for $88 million after the wrong person was allegedly buried in their mother's plot

“When I first walked in, I said, ‘That’s not mom.’ … He insisted that it was,” one of her kids told CBS New York.
Credit: Robert Hoetink - stock.adobe.com
A coffin with a flower arrangement at a mortuary

NEW YORK — Editor's Note: The photo above is a generic image.

The 11 children of a woman who died have filed a lawsuit against a New York funeral home, alleging the body that was buried in their mother's plot was someone else.

CBS New York spoke to two of Sadie Williams' children who say they made it clear to the funeral home's director the body they were shown prior to burial was not their mother.

“When I first walked in, I said, ‘That’s not mom.’ … He insisted that it was,” one of her kids told the outlet.

NBC New York reports, per the family's attorney, the funeral home's director claimed the embalming process had altered their mother's body amid protests from her children. 

Days later Williams' kids would get a call from the funeral home confirming the body that had been buried belonged to someone other than their mother.

“[The director] says, ‘I just want you to know that that wasn’t your mom,'” one of the daughters, Salimah Lee, told CBS New York.

According to NBC New York, the lawsuit claims the funeral home director even tried to convince one of Williams' daughters to have her body sent to the cemetery without a service. 

The family is suing for $88 million.

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