Oooops----Kaching'
Posted: Wed Feb 18, 2009 2:57 pm
Here is an interesting one that should make you want to follow-up. Not the first time a short-cut was made that cost a city-----and probably not the last one!
Yep----taking shortcuts for expediency vs accuracy.
Mom sues after son mistakenly ID'd as murder victim
The mother of a homicide victim misidentified by ########, which led to his being mourned and buried by strangers last year, has sued the city.
The department "wrongly identified the body of Kenny Thomas ###### and informed the wrong family that Kenny Thomas ###### had been a victim of a homicide," according to Kathleen #####, the mother of the victim.
##### was shot three times in the head and killed last year in #####. At the time, police said they relied on another man's father who identified the body as his missing son, named Frederick #####.
The ###### family had an open casket funeral, complete with grieving relatives streaming by the coffin. ###### turned up a week later in a ###### rehab center. ###### estranged wife notified police.
Police checked the fingerprint files to a statewide database and discovered they had buried the man under the wrong name. Family members of the victim were notified on the situation. The body was exhumed, eulogized and re-buried under the correct name: ########.
In the civil lawsuit, filed last week in ##### County Circuit Court, ###### said the department "failed to follow proper police procedure in identifying the victim of a homicide."
Investigators took fingerprints of the victim,They relied solely on the father's identification. The department said it would change its policy.but didn't check them for a positive match at the time of death, police said.
####### is seeking damages in excess of $50,000.
Yep----taking shortcuts for expediency vs accuracy.