Families file lawsuits after funeral home mixes up bodies of deceased women

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- An unbelievable mix-up is now headed to court.

We first told you about this story in August. The families of two elderly women talked to Eyewitness News after they discovered the bodies of their loved ones had been mixed up by the Mabrie Memorial Mortuary. One of the woman's bodies was actually buried in the wrong plot.

At the time, those families said they were so distraught at the mistake they were considering a lawsuit. Now, they've one filed against the funeral home.

When we first spoke to the family of 81-year-old Edna Lawson, her son, Bruce Lawson, told us the wrong woman, 89-year-old Pearlie Deason, was laid to rest over Ms. Lawson's deceased husband. Just prior to burial, he says he noticed the body did not look right. He says the funeral home assured him that everything was okay.

Bruce Lawson told us in August, "They had to go back... and exhume Ms. Deason who was buried in my mom's clothes, in my mom's casket, on top of my father, who was a World War II veteran. And, they had to bring her back to the funeral home."

Lawson went on to tell us that they had to have another funeral, which was much smaller and quicker than the first, and without many of the family members which had attended the previous, incorrect funeral.

According to the legal filings, the Deason family was informed, just prior to Pearlie's funeral, that Mabrie needed permission to exhume her because they had already mistakenly buried her. The lawsuit states the family members "were required to come to the funeral home and identify their deceased mother's body.... it had severely decayed and decomposed."

The lawyer for the families say they were emotionally devastated by the mistake. The lawsuits are asking for punitive damages, as well as damages such as payment for medical and psychological treatment and pain and suffering.