A mother is suing a funeral home and a cremation service over the appalling sight that greeted her when she went to collect her stillborn baby’s blanket and ashes.
Aurora Hartley, of Oklahoma, was left devastated when she went into pre-term labor on November 27, 2023 at 27 weeks, and her baby, Hadley, was a stillborn, News 9 reports.
In her grief, she turned over her child’s remains to the Medical Examiner’s Office in Oklahoma City to conduct an autopsy – which in turn sent Hadley’s remains to Alpha and Omega Mortuary for cremation.
But when Hartley went to pick up her baby’s ashes and hospital birthing blanket at Brown’s Funeral Service in Coalgate, she was stunned to discover the remains of her child still in the blanket, her lawyers claim.
‘As they’re taking the birthing blanket and going to wash it and preserve it, they open it to find the remains of the child,’ attorney John Zelbst told the local news station.
Aurora Hartley, of Oklahoma, is suing Brown’s Funeral Home and Alpha and Omega Mortuary for apparently failing to cremate her stillborn child
When Hartley went to pick up her baby’s ashes and hospital birthing blanket at Brown’s Funeral Service in Coalgate, she was stunned to discover the remains of her child still in the blanket, her lawyers claim
‘You can only imagine the shock and disgust.’
He said Hartley and her boyfriend and her family later returned to Brown’s Funeral Service for more information on how such a mistake could have happened.
‘We have an urn with ashes that no one knows who they belong to,’ Zelbst said. ‘It’s not our client’s baby. So what family is missing their loved one?’
The lawyer went on to say that the funeral home told local police that the ashes were of Hartley’s cremated placenta rather than the child’s remains.
‘They gave this excuse that it’s the placenta. It has no characteristics of a cremation,’ Zelbst argued. ‘So that starts the cover up.’
He said he is now pursuing legal action against the mortuary and funeral home to ensure no other family has to undergo such horrors.
‘We are going to let the citizens of this community decide what justice really should be,’ he said, as Hartley’s other attorney, Dan Markoff, said he is waiting for the state board to step in and shut down one or both of the funeral service providers.
Employees at the funeral home reportedly told local police that the ashes were of Hartley’s cremated placenta rather than the child’s remains
The US Department of Labor had investigated the operator of Alpha and Omega Mortuary Services and Crematory in April for violations of federal employment laws.
It found that the mortuary, operated by Stillwell Ltd, Inc, deprived employees of overtime pay for work they completed past 40 hours in a single week and failed to keep proper records, as is required under federal law.
‘I was doing 60 to 80 hour weeks, no days off,’ former mortuary employer Crystal Moeai told KFOR amid the investigation. ‘A lot of times the longest shift I did was 27 hours.’
Mark Monterroso added that they would sometimes work ‘a couple of days’ straight and have to ‘catch a nap here and there because you work overnight.
In the end the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division recovered $231,390 in back wages and an equal amount in damages for Stillwell’s 66 employees.
Hartley said she was left devastated by the mistake, noting that she had always wanted to be a mom
She is now seeking mental health treatment as she copes with the loss of her child and the traumatic mix up that ensued
‘By denying their employees of their hard-earned wages, Alpha and Omega Mortuary Service and Crematory violated the law and harmed the people on whom the company depends to work long hours to provide an important service to the community in return for low wages,’ Wage and Hour Division District Director Michael Speer said at the time.
‘We are committed to protecting workers and providing clear and confidential compliance assistance to any employee or employer with questions.’
It is unclear whether the long hours may have contributed to the mix up with Hartley’s baby.
But she says she is now seeking help for her mental health after losing the infant and the traumatic experience, noting that she had always wanted to be a mother.
DailyMail.com has reached out to Brown’s Funeral Service and Alpha and Omega Mortuary for comment.
