Funeral home mistakenly gave father his dead son's BRAIN in a plastic bag when he only asked for his clothes
By Emma Richter
Daily Mail
Dec 16, 2025
Alexander Piñon, 27, tragically died on May 19 in Santa Clara, California. His devastated family were later handed his brain after arranging to pick up his clothing from the funeral home, according to a new lawsuit
A California funeral home allegedly gave a father his dead son's brain in a plastic bag after he requested his child's clothing, according to a newly filed lawsuit.
The Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel in San Jose is accused of making the horrific blunder while handling the burial of Alexander Piñon.
The 27-year-old San Jose native suddenly died on May 19, 2025 at a home in Santa Clara. His cause of death has not been released.
His family contacted the funeral home and paid the business $10,454.34 for the 'full-service memorial tribute package', according to the lawsuit reviewed by the Daily Mail.
His parents, Raymundo Llanes and Dolores Piñon Llanes, specifically asked the funeral director, Anita Singh, not to dress their son in the clothes he died in because they wanted him to be buried in a nicer outfit, the lawsuit stated.
Llanes went to collect his son's clothing on June 4, 2025 and was handed a 'red bag indicating biohazardous material inside', per the filing.
He claims he went home and dumped the contents into the washing machine before noticing something unusual.
Piñon's father saw an odd substance inside the machine that was later found to be 'human brain matter,' according to the lawsuit.
The family accuse funeral director, Anita Singh (pictured) of handing Piñon's brain to his father when he asked for his son's clothing
Not Alexander's clothing
'At that point, they had no idea that it was their son's brain that was in the washing machine,' Samer Habbas, the family's attorney, told KGO.
'They didn't know if it was mixed up with somebody else's brain, whether it was their son's, they had not a single idea.'
Fearful the chilling discovery would upset his wife, Llanes called his sister-in-law instead to tell her what he witnessed, the lawsuit detailed.
Llanes was not sure what the material was in the washing machine, and according to the lawsuit the young man's family, 'were not aware that the coroner had performed a cranial autopsy or that any portion of the decedent's brain had been removed,' the filing stated.
Llanes then phoned Singh and let her know. She then told the shaken father to bring the bag back to her at the funeral home, the lawsuit said.
Llanes then had to scoop up the substance that he still didn't know was his son's brain, per the lawsuit.
After placing the red bag inside a trash bag, he brought it back to Singh that same day and got 'no explanation' from her over the alleged mix-up. He also never received his son's clothing, the filing stated.
Piñon's funeral was held the following day at Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel and he was buried at Oak Hill Memorial Cemetery.
His family contacted Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel (pictured) to plan his funeral and paid the business $10,454.34 for the 'full-service memorial tribute package'
More than a month went by without the family getting the clothing they initially asked for, despite contacting Singh on multiple occasions to do so, the lawsuit detailed.
A funeral home employee allegedly reached out to the family to inform them it was their son's brain in the bag.
The worker claimed that after Llanes returned it, Singh placed the organ in a box and left it sitting in a courtyard for two-and-a-half-months.
The employee only uncovered this after they became 'overwhelmed with the smell' of 'a rotting human brain', the lawsuit said.
Habbas said he knows humans make mistakes, but it's a different story when people try to cover those errors up.
'Don't get me wrong, 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,' he told the outlet.
The Daily Mail contacted Dignity, the company Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel operates under, and Service Corporation International (SCI), the largest funeral service company in North America.
For now, Piñon's family plans to move forward with the lawsuit and are working on a plan to have his brain reunited with his now buried body
SCI owns Lima Family Erickson Memorial Chapel.
Christopher James, a spokesperson for SCI, told KGO: 'Due to active litigation, we won't be commenting on this matter.'
When the outlet went to the funeral home to speak to Singh, another employee informed them that she was no longer with the company.
A reporter for ABC then tried to approach her at her home, but Singh drove away without a word.
For now, Piñon's family plans to move forward with the lawsuit and are working on a plan to have his brain reunited with his now buried body, the outlet reported.
'We don't know the extent of how much suffering they're gonna go through for the remainder of their life,' Habbas explained.
'But I can tell you, it's something that they're never gonna forget, it's something they're gonna have to live with forever.'
The Daily Mail also contacted Singh and Habbas for comment.
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