LA County funeral home sued after presenting the wrong body during a viewing

A Los Angeles County family is suing Forest Lawn Covina Hills for negligence and emotional distress after the funeral home presented them with the wrong body during a memorial.

The loved ones of Joey Espinosa, who died of heart failure at 44 years old, said the tough day of mourning turned into a nightmare when they found a stranger's body in the casket. 

"They didn't know where my nephew's body was," Espinosa's aunt Laura Levario said. 

Levario said the staff directed the family to another room after the realization, but it also contained the wrong body. She said it took Forest Lawn staff over an hour to locate Espinosa's body and start the service. 

After the troubling start to the memorial, the family's day only worsened when Levario's husband suffered a heart attack in the middle of the chapel. 

"She told me I collapsed," George Levario said. "I woke up three days later in the hospital, on life support ... It's the worst experience we've ever had."

Forest Lawn called the situation a "scheduling error" and offered the family $200 in compensation for the nearly $20,000 service. 

"Instead of mourning their loved one, they are searching for a body," said Elvis Tran, the family's attorney. "When you're spending that much money on a place like Forest Lawn, you would think they would do things properly."

In a statement to City News Service, Forest Lawn wrote that it does not comment on pending litigation.