Inset: Coi’seir Parham (GoFundMe). The Heaven Bound Crematory in Waldorf, Md. (WTTG/YouTube).
A Maryland couple is taking legal action against a crematory and its operators for allegedly failing to cremate their 2-month-old son and instead storing his body within the now-closed facility. State officials had previously sanctioned the crematory for improper practices such as storing “human remains in cardboard boxes.”
The operators of Heaven Bound Crematory, Rosa Turner and Brandon Williams from Charles County, have also been accused by the parents, Laquanda Brown and Christopher Parham, of providing them with the incorrect ashes of their son, Coi’seir Parham, who passed away in October.
“He rolled over in his sleep and kind of suffocated,” Parham said.
The parents found out about the alleged failed cremation in February.
Christopher Parham expressed his anguish, stating, “Like that call we got from the detective was like the wound [of their son’s death] was almost in the process of putting itself back together, but like it’s just ripping it off again,” during an interview with local ABC affiliate WJLA.
Brown said that when they received the call from the detective, she and Parham were “in disbelief.”
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Brown and Parham’s lawyer, Sara Aguiniga, told Law&Crime on Thursday that the pair is suing Heaven Bound and Stewart Funeral Services, along with Turner and Williams, for $10 million for the alleged handling of their son’s cremation.
“The defendants’ heinous disregard for human dignity shocks the conscience,” Aguiniga said in a statement. “Heaven Bound and Stewart Funeral Services took advantage of people during their most vulnerable time and have caused significant, irreparable harm. This lawsuit is a critical step to hold them accountable and protect those who cannot speak for themselves.”
According to the parents’ complaint, Parham was notified by police on Feb. 27 about the ashes not being from his son.
“Upon receiving this call, Mr. Parham thought that it was a joke, and did not understand how anyone could engage in such a cruel prank,” the complaint says.
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Police were tipped off that month about human remains being improperly stored at Heaven Bound and officers allegedly found the child “amongst the bodies,” the complaint says.
“Ms. Brown and Mr. Parham, were shocked and saddened upon learning that the ashes in their home were not the ashes of Baby C.P.,” the document adds.
In March 2024, the board’s lead investigator conducted an inspection of the crematory that revealed “human bodies in cardboard boxes stacked on top of each other with no support between the boxes; human bodies in ripped body bags with arms and legs hanging out of the body bags; human remains that were not being stored at temperatures below 40F; and blood on the refrigeration unit and bodily fluids on the floor,” according to an order for summary suspension filed by state officials for Turner’s operator registration. Williams was also stripped of his credentials.
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The board’s investigator conducted a follow-up inspection in April 2024, which revealed “a strong odor of decomposing remains” and “flies coming out of boxes containing human bodies,” the order says.
“I feel like they kind of chose business over doing what’s right,” Parham told WJLA.
“He kept telling me from the moment we walked into the funeral home, ‘something’s not right,’” Brown told local NBC affiliate WRC about Parham. “But to find out that a 2-month-old was among those bodies, and was still in the same clothes he was wearing at the time of his funeral is just shocking and devastating.”
