Families sue funeral home over human remains mix-up

Two grieving families are now taking legal action against a funeral home for cremating a woman prematurely and placing another woman's body in the casket. On top of that, the families say she was wearing the other woman's wig and dress.7 News Detroit reported on the incident involving Kimberlly Moore, earlier this month. We are now hearing from the family of the other woman caught in the mix-up. Her name is Sandra Miller.Miller's daughter, Cessley Walker said, “I want people to know who my momma was. She was sweet, shy, kindhearted. She loved me and my brother fiercely and she was the type person who, even though going through her hardest moments of life, she worried about everybody else first.”Sadly, Miller died after a battle with ovarian cancer on September 13th.Walker recalled, “I was with her when she died. Me and my younger brother laid our heads on her chest, telling we loved her as she took her final breath. And after everything she endured, I wanted one thing for my mom. I wanted her to finally be at peace and be treated with the dignity she deserves.”Walker said she entrusted her mom’s body and burial plans to Hutchison Funeral Home in Detroit.Just days later, she caught wind of a cremation mix-up on the news.“And because of the timing, I got concerned that it might have been my mom," she recalled.On September 18th, 7 News Detroit spoke with Kimberlly Moore’s family outside Hutchison Funeral Home.A few hours before the viewing, Moore’s family discovered a different woman in the casket. Her daughter, Bianca Robinson had told 7 News Detroit, "He said, 'I'm so sorry. Your mom must have been cremated'." Moore's family also said the funeral home suggested they have a closed casket funeral.As it turns out, the woman in the casket was Sandra Miller and her family said they only learned the truth when reaching out to Moore’s family.Wednesday, Moore's daughter said, “This is devastating. I can’t sleep. We just want answers.”Both families retained Fieger Law.Attorney James Harrington said, “I think from the very beginning they should have just admitted and taken accountability and responsibility and told the truth.""What we saw right before their very eyes was just a series and series of lies and a cover up and that’s just wrong. That’s just so wrong. You don’t do that to people," he continued.Harrington said he doesn’t think a ‘toe tag’ got wet and fell off, as the family said they were told. He also said he believes there’s at least one other family impacted by this ordeal.The day of the discovery, Joseph Hutchison Jr. told 7 News Detroit an internal investigation is being conducted. Sadly, Hutchison took his own life six days later, according to Detroit police.His brother, Jaimie Hutchison, and Southern Michigan Cremation Services are named in the lawsuit as defendants.Harrington explained, “You need a permit to conduct a cremation. You need to have authorization and that wasn’t properly done.”Southern Michigan Cremation Service told 7 News Detroit it had no comment on the allegations but noted this is a very tragic case.Wednesday, the attorney for Hutchison Funeral Home, Klint Kesto told 7 News Detroit, “It’s a difficult time for the family of Joey Hutchison with his sudden passing.But they are still conducting an internal investigation to see what exactly happened. There was identification made by Ms. Moore’s family. So, we're still trying to process all the information as to how this could have happened. Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone affected by this.”