Shuttered Funeral Home Hit With Lawsuit

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Carter Funeral Chapel--closed down last week because it had no electricity or heat--has been hit with a lawsuit from a woman who said her mother's body was held there for more than six weeks without being cremated.

The funeral home owner tells WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller it's not his fault.

It was media reports a week ago about the troubles at the Carter Funeral Chapel, 2100 E. 75th St., that prompted a Chicago woman to call the funeral home about her mother's remains--which Carter had since Jan. 7.

LISTEN: WBBM Newsradio's Steve Miller Reports

"They told her the body was still there so she immediately went over to the funeral home and was actually shown her mother's corpse that had not been cremated - that was still sitting there," said the woman's attorney Michael LaMonica, who said his client is suing Carter Funeral Chapel and asking for damages.

Funeral chapel owner Harry J. Carter III said: "We have done not one single thing wrong."

Carter says he couldn't get a doctor to sign the paperwork permitting the cremation.

Carter says the funeral home still cannot receive remains or conduct funerals because the power is off, but he says he hopes to be able to within two weeks.

A former worker said bodies were not properly stored in coolers, but instead were placed in the garage in winter and cooled with frozen water packs in summer.

Chicago police issued one citation to the owner for improper care and storage of deceased human remains.