A funeral that was intended to be a loving memorial to a father from South Gate took a turn for the horrifying when family members approached the casket and found him in a grotesque and oozing state of advanced decay, relatives allege in a lawsuit.
The widow and two children of Santos Ramos have sued Risher Mortuary & Cremation Service, alleging that the Montebello-based funeral home botched Ramos’ embalming and deprived the family of a meaningful final farewell. John Mason, an attorney representing the company, said that the mortuary strongly disputes that it mishandled Ramos’ remains and intends to vigorously defend itself against the lawsuit.
Ramos died in L.A. County from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease on Jan. 20, 2024, leaving behind his wife, Virginia Ramos, and their two children, Santos Rene Ramos and Elizabeth Ramos, according to the complaint filed March 9 in Los Angeles Superior Court.
The family paid Risher $4,131 for funeral and embalming services in preparation for the funeral held at Casa Funeral Espinoza in Mexico. But, when the family examined the body after it arrived in Mexico on March 24, 2024, they discovered it was in a state of “notorious and advanced decomposition.”
“The body was visibly deteriorated and was observed discharging liquids from the facial area throughout the entire duration of the viewing and wake,” the complaint alleges. “The family was horrified and devastated by what they witnessed.”
The receiving funeral establishment in Mexico wrote in a March 28, 2024, report that the embalming process “was realized in terrible quality,” noting that the body arrived in a decomposed state and discharged liquids from the face during the entirety of the wake, according to the complaint.
As a result of the alleged substandard embalming, family members say they were forced to witness the “grotesque and undignified condition of their loved one’s remains” and suffered humiliation, grief and horror.
They claim that Risher breached the contract with the family by failing to professionally embalm Ramos’ remains and treat the body with the dignity and care required by California law.
In particular, they allege that Risher failed to use proper chemicals to preserve the body for international travel, did not adequately administer enbalming fluid, did not properly seal the body and entrusted the procedure to an apprentice embalmer without adequate supervision. They further claim that at the time of Ramos’ embalming, Risher lacked a suitable space to store human remains and lacked a preparation room equipped with necessary drainage, ventilation and supplies for proper embalming.
The family is suing the company for breach of contract, negligence, infliction of emotional distress and violation of the California Health and Safety Code. They are seeking general and specific damages in an amount proven at trial including for the money they paid Risher, additional costs incurred in Mexico to address the condition of the remains, the loss of a dignified burial service and distress inflicted.
