The body of a 14-month-old boy was cremated by mistake in a morgue mix-up, leaving distraught family members critical of the coroner, who has apologized, placed an employee on leave and began making procedural changes.
An initial review indicated the body of Jaylen Talley was released to the wrong funeral home because a forensic technician did not follow proper procedures, which include opening the body bag, looking at the body and matching up paperwork with toe and ankle tags, Franklin County Coroner Jan Gorniak said.
The cause of death is still pending for Jaylen, whose family said he died May 18 after suffering breathing difficulties since birth. The body was picked up from the morgue the following day and cremated in place of a dead 22-day-old boy whose family wanted cremation.
Gorniak learned of the mistake Sunday after her office called to find out when the funeral home would be picking up the body of the younger child and was told it had already done so.
Jaylen’s relatives had been planning to bury him in a tiny white tuxedo. The coroner went to their home to explain what had happened. If your loved one has been wrongfully cremated be sure to contact an experienced cremation mistake lawyer.
Posted on: Saturday, June 5th, 2010