(WWJ) A woman declared dead, but found breathing in a body bag at a Detroit funeral home is hospitalized in critical condition.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, high-profile attorney Geoffrey Fieger, who is representing the family of Timesha Beauchamp, released disturbing new details in the case that's making headline across the U.S.
Fieger said the 20-year-old Beauchamp was in a body bag for about two hours last Sunday and was about to be embalmed at the James H. Cole Funeral home when staff made a shocking realization.
"They place you on a table and they proceed to embalm you, that's what they do," Fieger said. "And she was alive! Her eyes were open, and she was breathing. My recollection is that he embalmer was actually there and was the person who opened the body bag.."
"They were about to embalm her, which is most frightening. Had she not had her eyes open, they would have begun draining her blood to be very, very frank about it," Fieger said. "It’s one of people's worst nightmares to imagine having an ambulance called and instead, sending you off to a funeral home in a body bag. The funeral home unzipping the body bag — literally, that’s what happened to Timesha — and seeing her alive with her eyes open."
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Emergency responders arrived at the the young woman's home around 7:30 a.m. on Aug. 23 to find Beaucham unresponsive. After performing CPR and other life saving techniques, Beauchamp was pronounced dead on the scene.
As she was being placed into a body bag, however, Fieger said a family member cast doubt on the declaration.
"Before the police left, Timesha's godmother, who is also a registered nurse, she indicated that she had seen Timesha breathing, and she felt that Timesha had a pulse," Fieger said. "And the police did not respond to Savannah Spears, her godmother, her statements that she did not believe her goddaughter was dead."
"She told the paramedics, and the paramedics told her that the movements were involuntary and it was the result of the medication," Fieger said.
Fieger said Beauchamp has cerebral palsy and has had trouble breathing for her entire life. She is now on a respirator at Sinai Grace hospital, he said, but her heart is beating on its own.
Fieger said a lot of precious time was wasted by taking the woman to the funeral home, while she should have been receiving treatment.
"What did this delay do in terms of Timesha’s health for the rest of her life?" he asked.
Southfield Fire Department officials have said there was no foul play in the incident, adding that "all protocols were followed."
Investigations are underway to determine what mistakes were made, and who was at fault.