Parents claim funeral home gave them dead son’s brain in a box, lawsuit says

A couple in Pennsylvania has filed a lawsuit against two funeral homes after their son’s brain was allegedly given to them in a box by accident. According to the suit, the pair’s son, Timothy Garlington, died on Nov. 15, 2023, while living in Georgia. The family hired the funeral homes, Philadelphia’s Nix & Nix Funeral Home and Marietta’s Southern Cremations & Funerals, to ship their son’s body to Pennsylvania and handle his affairs.

About a week after his death, the couple went to Nix & Nix Funeral Home to pick up his personal items, which included an unmarked red box inside a larger cardboard box. Curious about what it contained, they tried to open the box but couldn’t, according to the suit. The couple realized something was wrong when the box started to smell and leak in their car. When they removed the box, the liquid splashed onto them, according to the suit.

The parents later learned the box allegedly contained their son’s brain matter. In the suit, the family accuses the funeral homes of negligence, inflicting emotional distress and other wrongdoings. The lawsuit calls the incident “extreme and outrageous” and demands compensatory and punitive damages.

For more information see Akim Powell “Parents claim funeral home gave them dead son’s brain in a box, lawsuit says,” KOLD, July 25, 2025.