TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains information about stillbirth and infant loss, which may be triggering to some.
Losing your child before they’ve had much of a chance to grow up is devastating. And then you have to trust the care of your child after their death to professionals. If those professionals don’t do their jobs properly, and with sensitivity, it can only add to your grief.
The Heaven Bound Crematorium in White Plains, Maryland, is facing a lawsuit from grieving parents after allegedly mishandling their child’s remains. It seems that this company has a history of using questionable business practices. So it’s not a surprise that it now faces legal action for its alleged lapse.
Chris Parham and Laquanda Brown’s son died in August 2024, at 2 months old. Months later, they received what they were told were his ashes, but something didn’t feel right to them. Their feelings were confirmed on February 27, 2025, when they got a call from a Maryland State Police trooper.
“When the detective called and stated they gave us the wrong ashes, we was in disbelief,” Brown told WJLA. And if that wasn’t enough, they told their son Coi’seir’s body was found four months after his death. He had never been cremated.
“Like that call we got from the detective was like the wound was almost in the process of putting itself back together, but like it’s just ripping it off again,” Parham told the outlet.
The parents filed a $10 million lawsuit against Heaven Bound Crematorium for the severe infliction of emotional distress. They are also suing Stewart Funeral Home in their hometown of Washington, DC, which handled their son’s funeral, for an additional $10 million, Fox 5 DC reported. The couple didn’t know that Heaven Bound would be handling Coi’seir’s body. They say they still don’t have their baby’s ashes.
Heaven Bound has been under investigation several times since 2017. The Maryland Death Services Oversight Board found it was improperly storing bodies, Fox 5 reported. A 2024 investigation by the Maryland State Board of Morticians and Funeral Directors found “bodies being stacked,” NBC Washington reported. Additionally, there was “a strong odor of human remains,” and “flies coming out of cardboard boxes containing human remains.”
Maryland Governor Wes Moore opened an investigation into the oversight board. Heaven Bound was shut down earlier this year, multiple outlets reported.
