Indian-origin funeral director at centre of lawsuit after allegedly handing family son's brain instead of clothes
A San Jose funeral home is being sued after a father was allegedly given his dead son’s brain instead of clothes.
A funeral home in San Jose, California, has been sued after a grieving father was allegedly handed his late son’s brain instead of the clothes his family had asked to be returned following the burial.
According to an exclusive report by ABC7 News, 27-year-old Alexander Pinon died on May 19, 2025. His family hired Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel in San Jose’s Bay Area for a full-service memorial, paying over $10,000 for funeral arrangements. The family requested that Alex be dressed in formal clothes for the service and that the clothes he was wearing at the time of his death be returned to them.
(Also Read: Funeral turns traumatic as entire family falls into grave with father's coffin. Watch)
Gruesome discovery
Instead, the lawsuit claims, the funeral director, identified as Anita Singh, gave Alex’s father a bag that he assumed contained clothing. The family’s attorney, Samer Habbas, told ABC7 that the father took the bag home with the intention of washing the clothes.
“At that point, they had no idea that it was their son’s brain that was in the washing machine,” Habbas said. “They didn’t know if it was mixed up with somebody else’s brain, whether it was their son’s,” he continued.
After discovering the contents, Alex’s father reportedly placed the organ back in the bag and returned it to Singh at the funeral home. According to the lawsuit, Singh took the bag but did not explain whose brain it was, offer an apology or provide further information, allegedly telling him, “I’ll take that from here.”
Weeks later, a whistleblower from within the funeral home reportedly confirmed to the family that the bag contained Alex Pinon’s brain. The lawsuit further alleges that Singh placed the brain in a box and left it outside in the funeral home’s courtyard for nearly two-and-a-half months. An employee later discovered the box, reportedly overwhelmed by the smell of what was described as “a rotting human brain.”
(Also Read: Indian wedding and Chinese funeral take place side by side in Malaysia neighbourhood)
Investigation ongoing
Habbas criticised the handling of the situation, saying, “Errors can happen. But what cannot happen, and what should not happen, is that you cover up your errors, and that's what the funeral home has done here.”
When ABC7 News attempted to question Singh at her home, asking how a father could be given his son’s brain instead of clothing, she reportedly stepped back without responding.
The lawsuit is ongoing, and Alex Pinon’s family is now negotiating plans to reunite his brain with the rest of his remains, as they seek accountability and a dignified resolution following what they describe as a deeply traumatic ordeal.
