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Sad! Parents sue funeral home after receiving son’s decaying brain in a box
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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
Two funeral homes allegedly gave grieving parents their deceased son’s brain in a box, which began to smell, leaked into their car and got on the father’s hands when he moved it, according to an updated lawsuit filed this week.
The father, Lawrence Butler, said the discovery was overwhelming at a news conference on Thursday, leaving a horrific memory that mars the other memories of a “good young man”, their son, Timothy Garlington.
“It was, and it is still, in my heart that I got in my car and I smelled death,” he said, emotion breaking his voice. Garlington’s mother, Abbey Butler, stood nearby, wiping away tears.
After Garlington’s death in 2023, the Butlers had his remains shipped from one funeral home in Georgia, where their son died, to another where the family lived, in Pennsylvania, where they picked up his belongings, including a white cardboard box that contained an unlabeled red box.
At Nix & Nix Funeral Homes, Abbey Butler tried but could not open the red box, said the Butlers’ attorney, L Chris Stewart, at the news conference.
Several days later, the red box, which was in the Butlers’ car, began to smell and leak fluid, Stewart said. When Lawrence Butler picked it up, the fluid covered his hands, “which was brain matter. It’s insane,” Stewart said.
When they called the funeral home in Georgia, Southern Cremations & Funerals at Cheatham Hill, they were told it was Garlington’s brain and a mistake had been made, Stewart said. The Butlers returned the box to Nix & Nix, he said.
The company that owns Southern Cremations, ASV Partners, declined to comment when contacted by the Associated Press.
“The parents’ last memory is holding their son’s brain,” said Stewart in an interview with the AP.
“I had to get rid of that car,” Lawrence Butler said, “I just couldn’t stand the idea that the remains were in that car.”
The lawsuit says that both funeral homes negligently mishandled human remains and intentionally, wantonly or recklessly inflicted emotional distress.
Stewart said he had consulted other funeral homes, and that at no point in the process is the brain “separated from body in that fashion and shipped in that fashion”. If it ever is, he said, then it is in a sealed bag and labeled as a biohazard.
Whether or not Nix & Nix knew a brain was inside the box, Stewart alleged, they should not have handed the box over to the Butlers because it was not on the list of belongings sent from Southern Cremations.
Julian Nix, the manager of the eponymous funeral home, told the AP that “it was definitely not our fault” because Southern Cremations had sent them the unlabeled box. Nix told local news that his team believed the box held personal effects and that other funeral homes usually only send intact remains.
Nix said that once they learned what was inside the box, they reported it to authorities. An investigation had been done by the state board overseeing funeral homes that found Nix & Nix wasn’t responsible, he said, but the documents proving that were not yet available.
The Butlers are seeking compensation and answers to what went wrong. They also hope the lawsuit acts as a warning so that similar incidents will not happen again.
“There’s no excuse, there is zero excuse for this type of error to happen. For the Georgia funeral home, Southern Cremations, to ship unmarked, bio-hazardous material. For the funeral home here in Philadelphia to hand the parents an unmarked box, not examined, not on a list of the inventory that was the personal items, to not check it,” said Stewart. “They have not received a single apology to this day from any funeral home.”
Garlington, a veteran of the US marines who was working in school financial aid in Atlanta, according to his LinkedIn, has since been buried in Washington Crossing national cemetery.
Stewart, who declined to say how Garlington died at age 56, said the Butlers still do not know whether his brain was buried with the rest of his remains.
“They fear, which is totally understandable: is he resting in peace?” he said.
Source: The Guardian
The Federal Government has endorsed a new examination fee of N50,000 for candidates sitting the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) Senior School Certificate Examinations (SSCE), effective from 2027.
The approval was conveyed in a statement dated June 18 and signed by the Director of Senior Secondary Education at the Federal Ministry of Education, Adeniji Ibrahim. According to the statement, the decision followed a request by WAEC for an upward review of the SSCE registration fee for candidates from 2027.
The new fee represents an 82 per cent increase from the current registration fee of N27,500. Ibrahim explained that the decision stemmed from a meeting held on March 31, 2026, between the Minister of Education and examination bodies, where the need to review examination fees was discussed.
He stated that the Minister directed both WAEC and NECO to adopt a uniform examination fee for the conduct of their SSCE examinations.
You may recall that at a meeting of examination bodies held with the Honourable Minister of Education on March 31, 2026, where the need for an upward review of examination fees was discussed, the Honourable Minister directed that WAEC and NECO should adopt a uniform fee for the conduct of WAEC and NECO SSCE,” the statement read.
“Consequently, I am directed to convey the Honourable Minister of Education’s approval of the sum of Fifty Thousand Naira (N50,000) only as the new examination fee per candidate, with effect from NECO SSCE (Internal), 2027.”
The ministry also directed that the approval be communicated to all relevant stakeholders.
Confirming the development, the Ministry of Education’s Director of Press and Public Relations, Folasade Boriowo, told TheCable that the Federal Government had approved the upward review of the examination fees.
“I can confirm the approval of an upward review of the examination fees. I spoke with the director in charge a few minutes ago and he said the approval was done,” she said.
An Iranian newspaper has published a controversial list naming former U.S. President Donald Trump, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and several European leaders as alleged targets for revenge following the killing of Iran’s former Supreme Leader, Ali Khamenei.
The publication is linked to hardline elements in Iran but it is not clear whether the list reflects official Iranian government policy.
The report comes amid heightened tensions after Khamenei’s death and follows renewed vows of retaliation by Iran’s current Supreme Leader, Mojtaba Khamenei, who has publicly promised revenge for his father’s assassination.
The newspaper’s publication has raised international concern, with analysts warning that such inflammatory rhetoric could further escalate the already volatile security situation in the Middle East. While the list has attracted widespread attention, there has been no official confirmation that it represents an operational threat or an approved policy of the Iranian government.
The development comes as tensions between Iran, the United States, Israel, and their allies remain at one of their highest levels in recent years, with governments closely monitoring the situation for any signs of further escalation.
News
Military identifies Army lieutenant who paid supreme sacrifice in rescue of abducted Oyo pupils, teachers
Military sources have confirmed the death of an Army officer, Lieutenant F.A. Isaac, during the operation that rescued 44 abducted pupils and teachers from the Old Oyo National Park.
The victims were rescued on July 10, 2026, in a coordinated operation involving security agencies after spending several days in captivity.
According to the sources, Lieutenant Isaac was killed in the line of duty during the rescue mission and was buried the same day.
Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde had earlier confirmed that the military recorded a casualty during the operation.
Sources said Lieutenant Isaac was among the officers leading efforts to rescue the abducted pupils and teachers when he was fatally wounded.
The pupils and teachers were abducted in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State on or about June 6, 2026, before their eventual rescue by security operatives.
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