A Virginia mother is suing a funeral home three years after she and her family approached her son’s casket and were horrified to see his face, nose, and mouth “covered with and consumed by clumps of maggots.”
Plaintiff Tabitha Worrell recently filed a lawsuit against Snelling Funeral Home in Chesapeake and its owner, Hollomon-Brown Funeral Home in Norfolk. She seeks $5 million from the funeral home for breach of contract and negligence.
Worrell’s son Torreon Williams, 24, died in a car accident on May 2, 2022. According to a lawsuit obtained by local NBC affiliate WAVY, the family paid Snelling Funeral Home a $3,000 down payment to handle the arrangements.
A week after Williams died, the family held a viewing and funeral at Snelling Funeral Home.
“As mourners approached the body of Torreon Williams, these people noticed that Torreon Williams’ body, particularly his face, nose and mouth, were covered with and consumed by clumps of maggots,” according to the lawsuit.
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Plaintiff lawyers claim that the maggots appeared to have been on the body for a “significant period of time and had been purposely ignored” by funeral home staff. The maggots had “burrowed into holes in his cheek and moth that had not existed previously,” according to the suit.
An employee allegedly placed her hands on Worrell and said, “Don’t you make a scene.” Another employee allegedly stated that “flies got to him.”
Worrell and her attorneys claim that the funeral home failed to “adequately prepare, preserve, and inspect” the body prior to the viewing. Plaintiffs believe the defendants failed to store Williams in a sealed refrigerator, leaving him exposed to elements such as flies and maggots.
According to her lawyers, Worrell has experienced “severe mental and emotional trauma” as a result of seeing her son’s body in that manner. The lawyers wrote that she suffers from sleeplessness, anxiety, nightmares, and flashbacks.
“They provided this family with a grotesque freak show,” Worrell’s attorney Kevin Sharp told WAVY. “Maggots are pouring out of the young man’s nose. There are maggots in his mouth and on his face.
Sharp said Worrell was also taken aback by the way the staff member told her not to cause a scene.
“They almost seemed to say, ‘You don’t overreact here. “You are the one to blame, not what they did to her son.” Sharp informed the outlet.
Casey Jones, CEO of the funeral homes, provided the following statement to WAVY.
“The unexpected death of Torreon Williams is tragic, and we send our heartfelt condolences to his family. However, because the events surrounding his death are still being litigated, we do not believe it is appropriate to make public comments at this time.”
