Decomposing body of Jamaica national discovered at his home and hurriedly buried after funeral homes refuse to handle it

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REAL NEWS: The body of a Jamaican man was hurriedly buried after the country’s two main funeral homes refused to store the body due to its decomposed state and the fact that there was no next of kin.

It appears that the man passed away suddenly at his Potters home.

A corporal of police made the discovery and reported the death to the Criminal Investigations Department (CID)

The officer, who is attached to Police Headquarters, told his colleagues that – at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, October 31 – he found the body of the 59-year-old man, on its back, on a bed in a southern bedroom.

Reportedly, the district doctor arrived on the scene and pronounced the body dead at 7:41 p.m. and Coroner Dexter Wason was notified.

Onika Campbell, the Jamaican consul, was informed, as well.

However, when contacted, both funeral homes declined to accept the body since it was already in an advanced state of decomposition and was unable to be stored.

It had to be removed by the Central Board of Health (CBH), with the assistance of workers from Straffies Funeral Home, under the supervision of Chief Health Inspector Sharon Martin.

A warrant to bury was issued by the coroner and the body was taken to Valley Church Community Cemetery, where it was interred on Wednesday, November 1.

Reports say the man had been suffering from an ailment and had been admitted to the hospital about three weeks ago, after he called an ambulance and complained of feeling unwell.

At the time, he received medical attention and was admitted to the medical centre; but he was discharged a few days later and taken to his home by a medic.

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12 COMMENTS

  1. Would the funeral homes reject the body if it was an antiguan national? Whether next of kins were available or not? Just curious.

    • @the fool

      Both funeral homes and privately owned entities. They are not government or state owned. The choice to refuse the body was a business decision. The fact that there was no next of kin meant that no one would claim or pay for the storage hence funeral expenses, casket etc. these funeral homes are already owed thousands by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, so no business establishment would make the decision to accept the body.

      Also the state of decomposition of the body means that it would be an extra expense because of the preparation it would take to store a body in that condition. They have employees to pay as well and expenses.. so they are not a charitable or non profit organization .. you cannot wrong them. No matter the nationality neither of them would accept the body of anybody they not getting paid for .. no matter where the person is from.
      Maybe the government need to invest and open a public mortuary or funeral home then they can use that for all their needs .. but Barnes and straffies are privately owned and can do whatever they want .. even if someone can pay and the funeral home doesn’t want to take them it’s there business

    • Both funeral homes and privately owned entities. They are not government or state owned. The choice to refuse the body was a business decision. The fact that there was no next of kin meant that no one would claim or pay for the storage hence funeral expenses, casket etc. these funeral homes are already owed thousands by the government of Antigua and Barbuda, so no business establishment would make the decision to accept the body.

      Also the state of decomposition of the body means that it would be an extra expense because of the preparation it would take to store a body in that condition. They have employees to pay as well and expenses.. so they are not a charitable or non profit organization .. you cannot wrong them. No matter the nationality neither of them would accept the body of anybody they not getting paid for .. no matter where the person is from.
      Maybe the government need to invest and open a public mortuary or funeral home then they can use that for all their needs .. but Barnes and straffies are privately owned and can do whatever they want .. even if someone can pay and the funeral home doesn’t want to take them it’s there business

    • @ FOOL: The services provided by the Funeral Homes in Antigua comes with a cost.They do not get paid on time for many services provided. However,whether they got paid or not.They have to pay their employees.In this instance it matters not the Nationality of the person.Did the Government Public Information Department made a public service announcement to notify the public at large.If not,why not?

  2. The fact that he was a Jamaican national is of no consequence. If it was an Antiguan, the result would be the same. The body was in an advance state of decomposition which is something a funeral home is not equipped to handle. I believe the same would happen if it were an Antiguan in Jamaica. Their health authorities would handle it. Still, ANR needs to stop referencing nationality when people die or commit crimes. It doesn’t make a difference where he came from. I can understand putting that in the story, but why is it always front and center in the headline?

  4. That kind of death mandates an autopsy. The warrant to Bury must be in place before the body is buried. So who cooked up a cause of death. Why was an autopsy not done on a 59 year old who died suddenly. His death certificate should read Cause of Death Negligence and Cover -up of Civil Servants who refuse to do their Job and a Government that does not care enough to make them do so . Dem a Go Dead bad too/

  5. Thought an autopsy was automatic under the circumstances to determine the cause of death. Next of kin has nothing to do with anything here. What is really happening in our country? This is really sad.

  8. The funeral homes in Antigua do not have the advanced state of the art technology to house very badly decomposed bodies. In the USA, here in California for example, funeral homes would have put him in an Alcohol type of preservation liquid that would stop further decomposition and kill all bacteria and maggots. Then he would have been cremated at some point. The government needs to allow the funeral homes to build a crematory. More and more people are choosing cremation. The government have stopped them twice now from building such a facility.

  9. It’s a sad state of affairs when, in a supposed Christian society, we cannot be our brother’s keeper. Imagine that no person missed this man? Now he was buried hurriedly, did the powers that be post pictures so that someone can contact his family? No pickey? No parents? No SI ling? No countryman? Any hospital records to show what he was admitted for? No one visited him there? So sad.

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