Murder Victim Cremated by Mistake
- Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:37am by
Jonathon M. Seidl
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Ralph Bias, 20, was the tragic victim of a drive-by shooting in New Orleans, LA last week. Now he’s the tragic victim of a funeral home mix-up.
Bias‘s mother Michelle says her son’s body was released by the coroner’s office to the wrong funeral home. That funeral home, which was supposed to be picking up an elderly white man, then cremated the body. Michelle has not filed suit but does call the actions of the coroner and funeral home “criminal.”
WVUE reports:
[Michelle's attorney Allain Hardin] points out that the mix up could have easily been discovered if someone would have just opened the bag. Hardin says within an hour and a half, the process of picking up the body and having it cremated took place. He believes Heritage Funeral Home broke the law.
“Before a body is cremated, someone from the family is supposed to identify that body and there is supposed to be a certification from the funeral director when he delivers the body to the crematorium that the person delivered is in fact the person to be cremated. Obviously, in this case, that was not done,” he says.
Michelle Bias never had a chance to say good-bye to her son before he was murdered. She planned for an open casket at the funeral. It was her last chance to touch her son before he was buried.
The attorney representing Heritage Funeral Home refused to comment. The New Orleans Coroner, Frank Minyard, is planning a news conference on Wednesday to discuss what happened.
The Bias family has not filed a lawsuit but Michelle Bias hasn’t ruled anything out. She says she will get to the bottom of what went wrong with her son’s body. She calls the actions of the coroner’s office and Heritage Funeral Home criminal.
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Col. HawK
Posted on January 13, 2011 at 3:17amThis is very sad indeed, My condolences to the family. :(
Report Post »ZaphodsPlanet
Posted on January 13, 2011 at 1:08amJust Brutal.
Report Post »Eblaze44
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 9:58pmIt is very sad for this mother and her son.
that being said, this is the result of our Justice (police or sheriff) system that cannot today or tomorrow keep citizens safe because “gangs” have more rights than respectable citizens. There is no safety in any large city, and many small towns either, in the United States. and it’s not guns – it’s kids raised with no morals and no respect for others. Our schools and bleeding heart liberals are so into letting kids do whatever they want – until someone gets shot. It’s not taking a knife to school, don‘t know of a single kid that ever got cut when I was going to school and I’d say that most boys carried pocket knives, it‘s that we’ve gone into “child worship”, our future, yet all we can do is social engineering instead of demanding that kids respect each other, their teachers, and elders as well as those in authority. we kick kids out of school for having a pair of nail clippers or having an aspirin with them – adults are overwrought and over reactive to the wrong things.
Report Post »Mooseboots8
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 6:38pmHow very very sad!!!! I can not imagine having to deal with such a horrible mix up if it were my son or child……….a chance for ‘good-bye’ to someone you love is just a necessary part of closure that NO ONE should be denied!!!! If I were his mother, I would definitely hold the funeral home accountable! My prayers are with this family! GOD bless!!!!!!!!!
Report Post »apollo18
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 5:47pmOur thoughts and prayers go out to this family. They seem like nice people. They didn’t deserve any of this. Very sorry.
Report Post »powedj
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 4:01pmIt is Sara Palin, Glenn Beck and Rush Limbauh’s fault. Conservative talk shows and FOX NEWS contributed to this as well.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 2:35pmThis is just awful. All someone had to do was look at the body to realize a mistake had been made. I feel so sorry for the family. God be with them.
Report Post »The Bees
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 2:03pmMy prayers are with this woman.
How tradgic…. nothing could ever make something like this right.
Report Post »avgconservative
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 12:00pmIt‘s george bush’s fault!!!!
Report Post »Carbine1
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 11:23amYa everyone makes mistakes bur IO sure wish rhese MINORITIES would find a more respectable way to make money fast so they need not work forit. What next????? Not enough BLACK OR HISPANIC Underwear sold at MACY’S OR IN CERTAIN PARTS OF THE COUNTRY.
Report Post »dontbotherme
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 2:33pmCarbine1 – What on earth are you talking about? What is wrong with you?
Report Post »SilentReader
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 10:45amI can’t believe that a funeral home would not check who they were cremating. Unbelievable.
Report Post »BurntHills
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 10:29amexcuse me, but at least this family HAS the remains of THEIR murdered family member. think of the families who do NOT. this family will gladly make a mint off this innocent MISTAKE.
Report Post »brknhrt
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 12:05pmBury one of your own children before you make hateful comments like this.
Report Post »goatkid
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 3:24pm@BURNTHILLS really? Have you ever buried a loved one. What a horrible thing to say. Some people don’t even believe in cremation. You might think twice about this statement if you ever had to bury your own child, God Forbid!
Report Post »goatkid
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 10:21amThat poor family! That funeral home needs to be shut down. If mistakes as bad as that are happening,who knows what else is going in. I hope that family can find some peace. They need our prayers.
Report Post »cnerd
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 9:11amInvestigation, criminal charges, fines, lawsuit. It is appropriate in this case for sure!
Report Post »GeeWhiz
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 8:57amIt’s poor form, not ‘criminal’. I feel for the mother but shoddy identification processes doesn’t not equate to evil.
Report Post »louzyana
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 8:04amThis was a shocking story from the beginning. Most everyone in the New Orleans area was shocked and angered by this “drive by” on a heavily traveled interstate highway through the city. Crime here is so out of hand, the thugs have no fear and have shoot outs in broad daylight with no pause for consequences.
Report Post »Story of original crime, http://www.wdsu.com/news/26378317/detail.html
912828Buckeye
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:58amMother gets settlement $
Director losses certification.
Future clients over charged to cover cost settlement………EOS
Report Post »Brae
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:56amI would be devastated .
Report Post »GeauxAlready
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:45amCan’t put any lipstick on that FUBAR……………………
Report Post »Ironmaan
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:44amOooops! http://guerillatics.com
Report Post »beckwill
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 7:42amHow awful. Sincere sympathy goes out to this woman.
Report Post »menotyou
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 8:04aminsult to injury
Report Post »AzDebi
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 9:11amDETAILS matter! That poor woman…
Report Post »Taquoshi
Posted on January 12, 2011 at 10:35amMy sympathies to the family.
Are the remains supposed to be tagged? Don’t they check and recheck before the cremation? What a travesty of errors.
Report Post »JJ Coolay
Posted on January 13, 2011 at 7:43amI don’t mean to be insensitive, but what’s the difference?
Report Post »In a few weeks the body that is in a casket will be dust anyway.
If it was to view the body, yes, that sucks. But all in all, there’s no difference.
Sad story nonetheless.
LetTheTruthSpill
Posted on January 14, 2011 at 10:31am2 words,blithering imbiciles.
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