ALAMEDA COUNTY, CA — The parents of Alaina Corona have filed a lawsuit against three Bay Area funeral service providers after learning that their daughter was cremated against their wishes, and her ashes were mistakenly given to another family. The lawsuit, filed in Alameda County Superior Court by Singleton Schreiber LLP on behalf of Denisse Chavez and Adrian Corona, alleges negligent infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract against Holy Sepulchre Cemetery and Funeral Center, Roman Catholic Cemeteries of the Diocese of Oakland, and Irvington Memorial Cemetery.
“This is every grieving parent’s nightmare and it was entirely preventable,” said Domenic Martini, attorney for the plaintiffs. “Holy Sepulchre and its affiliates not only disregarded the family’s explicit instructions, but then tried to cover it up rather than confront the unimaginable truth: they gave a child’s remains to the wrong family and buried the wrong ashes.”
According to the complaint, Alaina passed away on November 18, 2024. Her parents made clear to Holy Sepulchre and the Diocese that they did not want her to be cremated. Despite this, the cemetery sent her remains to Irvington Memorial Cemetery, where they were cremated without confirmation of her identity or required authorization. The ashes were then mislabeled and given to another family for over a week.
Holy Sepulchre allegedly discovered the mistake just before Alaina’s scheduled funeral but continued with the service, misleading the family into believing they were burying their daughter’s ashes. It wasn’t until months later, after a viral TikTok video posted by Ms. Chavez, that a former employee and the other family confirmed the truth about the mix up of ashes.
The lawsuit further alleges that Holy Sepulchre went to great lengths to cover up the mistake, including conducting a second unauthorized cremation at its in-house facility, replacing the original urn, and misleading the family about the identity of the ashes buried.
“This is not just negligence, it’s a profound violation of trust, dignity, and basic human decency,” said Martini. “Families turn to these institutions in their darkest hour. What happened here is indefensible.”
The plaintiffs are seeking compensatory and punitive damages for the emotional trauma they have endured, and to ensure this never happens to another family.
Singleton Schreiber is a client-centered law firm, specializing in mass torts/multi-district litigation, fire litigation, personal injury/wrongful death, civil rights, environmental law, insurance bad faith, and sex abuse/trafficking. Over the last decade, the firm has recovered more than $3 billion for clients who have been harmed and sought justice. The firm also has one of the largest fire litigation practices in the country, having represented over 30,000 victims of utility, government and train-caused wildfires. This includes the 2025 Eaton Fire, the 2022 Dixie Fire, the 2018 Woolsey Fire and the 2017 Thomas Fire, and the 22 fires involved in the 2019 PG&E bankruptcy fire, including the 2018 Camp Fire, in California, the 2023 Maui fires, and numerous fires in Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, Colorado and Texas.
