NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A woman is suing a Brooklyn funeral home after her daughter’s body was mishandled and horribly presented at her wake, News 12 reported.
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The 37-year-old mom of two, Regina Christophe, died peacefully in her sleep on June 24. After a few days at the medical examiner’s office, Christophe’s body was taken to McManus Funeral Home in Flatlands, the family told News 12.
Weeks later, on July 9, Christophe’s wake was held and her family members were shocked at the state of her body.
“Her skin was all off, it wasn’t even connected to face anymore,” Christophe’s mother, Chantal Jean, told News 12.
Jean was horrified at the condition of her, describing maggots coming out of her daughter’s eyes and her body partially wrapped in garbage bags.
“The last image I saw was a monster in the casket,” Jean told ABC 7.
The family’s lawyer, Kurt Robertson, said in an interview that her body does not seem to have been embalmed at all and was rotting for two weeks before the service.
“Apart from all it was just the incredible stench of the decomposing body that permeated the funeral home,” Robertson said. “It doesn’t look like a person at all,” Robertson also said. “It looks like a mud monster.”
According to Robertson, Jean had to stop Christophe’s two children, ages 16 and 6, from seeing their mother’s body because it was so bad.
"We feel sincere sympathy for the family and understand their grief,” the funeral home said in a statement to ABC 7. “The family contacted us four days after her passing, and at their request, services were scheduled another 11 days later. This was an extremely difficult case, and we used our best efforts to prepare her for the time requested by the family, and advised them of her condition prior to the day of services."
Jean, along with Christophe’s ex-boyfriend, filed the lawsuit against the funeral home in Brooklyn Supreme Court on Friday.
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