Freeman Funeral Home in Pompano Beach, Florida (Google Maps).
A Florida couple won a default summary judgment against a funeral home after they allegedly mistreated the remains of a stillborn baby by improperly embalming the boy and stacking other bodies on top of him.
Alicia Richard and Namarcus Crane, parents of Na-mir Crane, who died at birth on April 9, 2025, filed a negligence lawsuit in July against Freeman Funeral Home and Cremation in Pompano Beach.
After Na-mir's death, Richard and Crane paid $500 to the funeral home to handle embalming and arrangements. But over the next two weeks, the funeral home allegedly "neglected to provide even the most basic care" and the boy's "fragile body" deteriorated.
The family arranged for a new funeral home to pick up the body, but a representative "encountered conditions that can only be described as inhumane and horrifying," the suit stated.
Crane and Richard said in an interview with local NBC affiliate WTVJ that their son looked "unrecognizable."
"Only way he found our son is because he saw a little toe sticking under a grown human male," Crane told the outlet.
Plaintiff lawyer Jesse O'Hara wrote that the boy's remains were "crushed beneath the body of a deceased adult male, reportedly over six feet tall and weighing in excess of 200 pounds."
"Multiple bodies were haphazardly stacked in blatant disregard for industry standards and basic human dignity," he said.
Na-mir was unsuitable for an open casket, the lawsuit alleges.
"Defendant's actions and omissions deprived Plaintiffs of the sacred opportunity to grieve and honor their son through the rites of their faith, causing profound and lasting emotional trauma," O'Hara wrote.
Broward County Circuit Judge Michael Robinson in January entered a default summary judgment in favor of the plaintiffs after the defendants failed to appear for a court hearing. An evidentiary hearing to determine damages is slated for April 28.
"I've handled a lot of cases, and this one sticks out to me," O'Hara told WTVJ.
The experience has been devastating for Crane and Richard.
"We don't have anything to remember him by; it hurt us even more every day waking up," Crane told the TV station. "It hurts, can't get it back, very painful."
Richard concluded: "It crushed my soul."