ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — An Orange County family said their time to mourn turned into a moment of horror.
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They said a funeral home presented the wrong body for their mother’s viewing.
The family said the mix-up only added to their grief of losing their loved one.
It happened last week at Mitchell’s Funeral Home in Orange County.
The family of 80-year-old Julia Glenn Mitchell spoke only to Channel 9 reporter Phylicia Ashley.
They told Channel 9 it got worse, saying they were dismissed and felt intimidated when they tried to address the issue.
The family said the final moments of their mother are now filled with the image of someone else’s body. To this day, they have no idea who it was.
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Video obtained by Channel 9 shows part of the traumatic ordeal at the Walker’s family viewing on Friday.
“She had on everything that I bought for my mom,” said Sonji Walker. “She had on her wig, the jewelry, her broach, all the way down to her undergarments.”
Mitchell’s Funeral Home dressed up and labeled another corpse as Sonji Walker’s mother.
“My nephew went up to the gentleman at the window and asked who did her makeup,” Walker said. “He responded, ‘I did.’ He said, ‘No disrespect, sir, but it doesn’t look like my grandmother.’ He stated to my nephew, ‘What already is done is already done.’ And ‘When was the last time you’ve seen your grandmother?’ He was devastated.”
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Walker noticed the body didn’t have her mother’s scar, red nails or tattoo. The family said the embalmer came out and told them their mother had been in the back the whole time.
Former Chief Judge of Florida’s Ninth Judicial District Belvin Perry can be heard in the audio from the funeral home.
“Mr. Perry came in the room,” Walker said. “He told me, ‘Oh, the funeral is free, but y’all have to sign a release.’ And I told him, ‘I’m not singing a release.’”
Perry did not answer when Channel 9 called him on Tuesday to ask why he approached the family at the funeral home.
Channel 9 visited the funeral home to find out how the mistake happened.
While the owners would not come to the front, they handed the following premade statement:
“We feel terrible about what has happened. We understand everyone’s hurt and disappointment. We’ve taken appropriate and corrective steps, and we have apologized several times to the family. We have also implemented an internal review.”
“Your final goodbyes - you don’t have a chance to have another goodbye,” Walker said. “You don’t have another chance. There’s no do-over, no rewind button, no reset button.”
Funeral law expert Kevin Davis said a law was implemented a few years ago, saying a tag with the person’s name, date of birth, and death must be attached to a body at all times, and every time a body is moved, it’s supposed to be documented.
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