Tuesday, May 25, 2010
COLUMBUS (AP) — An Ohio coroner is apologizing while saying that’s not enough to make up for a mix-up that resulted in an infant’s body being cremated by mistake.
Jan Gorniak, the Franklin County coroner, said Monday that an employee in her office misidentified two dead children and released the wrong body to a funeral home. Fourteen-month-old Jaylen Talley was cremated, though his family planned to bury him in a tiny white tuxedo.
Gorniak says the employee has been placed on paid leave while the matter is investigated. She says procedures in her office are being evaluated.
Jaylen’s family members say they want assurances that changes will be made.
The boy died last week. The family says he’d suffered breathing difficulties since birth.