Carl Miller Funeral Home

Ashkeya Pratt-Williams filed the suit Wednesday against Carl Miller Funeral Home, which previously was the target of an emotional Facebook Live video over the same incident. The video, made by one of Pratt-Williams’ relatives, went viral with more than 116,000 views and 4,200 shares. In the lawsuit, Pratt-Williams contends the body of her brother, 44-year-old John Ross Pratt of Camden, was left to decompose in a garage at the funeral home. A funeral home representative declined to comment Wednesday, saying the business had not yet received the lawsuit. According to the suit, family members authorized embalming of the remains when they arranged services through the funeral home on Sept. 17, the same day Pratt died from natural causes. The suit asserts family members met with a Carl Miller employee for about two hours on Sept. 19, when Pratt-Williams asked to see her brother’s body. It says Pratt-Williams was told no one was available to handle her request, and she was asked to return the next day. On the following morning, the suit alleges, the funeral home’s manager, Pamela Miller Dabney, contacted Pratt-Williams “to advise her that there was a ‘problem.’" Pratt-Williams was told her brother’s body, which had not been refrigerated, “was decomposing and had an odor," according to the suit. It claims Dabney, who is one of the defendants, "recommended cremating the (body) and holding a closed-casket ceremony since 'no one would know if anyt...

Ashkeya Pratt-Williams filed suit Wednesday against Carl Miller Funeral Home in Camden and its employees for allowing the body of her recently deceased brother, John Ross Pratt, to decompose in a garage. John Pratt (Bell-Hennessy Funeral Home)   She alleges the funeral home failed to timely embalm him after his death, court documents say. Pratt died in his home of natural causes on Sept. 17, and that day Pratt-Williams contracted Carl Miller Funeral Home to handle his services. Also on that day, the suit alleges, Pratt-Williams signed off on embalming Pratt's body in order to have an open casket service.But three days later, she was told by funeral home manager Pamela Miller Dabney that there was a "problem" with her brother's body.The suit says Dabney told Pratt-Williams that Pratt's body had been "stored" in a garage, had not been embalmed and "that the body was decomposing and had an odor." Listen to NJ.com on Alexa, or via a daily podcast Here's another way to find out what's happening in your state: Listen to a daily news update on Alexa or via a podcast on your Apple device. She then recommended that Pratt be cremated, and the family could still hold a closed casket ceremony since "no one would know if anything was inside," the suit alleges.When members of the family learned this information, cousin Jeri McBride recorded a Facebook live to air her frustration. "When your loved one goes on, that's a pivotal moment for you to be able to say goodbye," she said. "They robbed her of that."Pratt-Williams and her family held a service for Pratt on Sept. 29 at Bell-Hennessy Funeral Home in Williamstown instead.Pratt-Williams, represented by lawyer Conrad J. Benedetto, alleges in the suit that the funeral home was negligent in their actions and inflicted emotional distress on her and her family. It also lists counts of consumer fraud and breach of contract. "As we allege in this complaint, through its wrongful actions, the Carl Miller Funeral Home took away the Pratt Fami...

J. (CBS) — A Gloucester County woman is suing a funeral home in Camden, claiming they let her brother’s body decompose before the funeral was set to happen.According to a lawsuit filed this week in Camden County Superior Court, the Carl Miller Funeral Home left John Pratt’s body inadequately embalmed and unrefrigerated in a garage for several days.South Jersey Town Suggesting Trick-Or-Treaters Be Under 12 Years Old(credit: Pratt Family)“Carl Miller buried everybody in my family, including my parents, my mom and my dad’s side, so that’s who I called,” said Ashkeya Pratt-Williams, who filed the lawsuit.Pratt, who suffered from diabetes, died on Sept. 17. Pratt-Williams says her instructions on the day of her brother’s death were clear – she wanted her brother’s body embalmed for an open casket funeral to take place 12 days later.Kanye West To President Trump: ‘Make America Great Again’ Hat Makes Me Feel Like Superman“We wanted to be able to say goodbye, the family,” she said.Pratt-Williams says, several days after her brother died, the funeral home told her there was a problem and that they would not be able to have an open casket funeral as the family wanted.“His body started to decompose,” she explained.Pratt-Williams added, “The body was smelling and really bloated.Another funeral home took Pratt’s remains and cremated him. The family was not able to give him the sendoff they wanted.Toxic Metal Cadmium Found In Chain Stores’ Jewelry For Adults“He was my only brother, my blood, and my parents are gone, so that’s what hurts and I get into these moments where I start thinking ‘why did I pick them?’” said Pratt-Williams.Levi Combs, a spokesperson for Carl Miller Funeral Home, said the company would not comment on the lawsuit, which they hadn’t received as of Thursday, but he did defend the reputation of the funeral home which has been in Camden for generations.“Our integrity an...