Mother sues ESL after son buried under wrong name

A St. Clair County woman claims her deceased son was buried under the wrong name after an East St. Louis detective mistakenly misidentified his body as that of another.

Kathleen Beecher-Miller claims her son, Kenny Thomas Stainback, was the victim of a homicide on Feb. 15.

However, East St. Louis employees wrongly identified his body as that of another man and informed the wrong family that their relative had died, according to the complaint filed Feb. 13 in St. Clair County Circuit Court.

After his death, Stainback was buried and had a funeral service by the wrong family, the suit states.

Because of the mistake, Stainback had to be exhumed and reburied by Miller, she claims.

The incident caused Miller to suffer severe emotional distress, to incur medical costs, to sustain great pain and mental anguish and to miss numerous working days and opportunities, according to the complaint.

East St. Louis employees and Detective Michael E. Floore failed to follow proper police procedure in identifying the victim of a homicide, the suit states.

"The actions, omissions and or admissions of the agents, servants and employees of the City of East St. Louis and more particularly the actions of the Defendant Michael E. Floore were extreme and outrageous conduct," the suit states.

In the two-count suit, Miller is seeking a judgment in excess of $100,000, plus costs.

Gary A. Mack of the Law Offices of Gary A. Mack in Belleville will be representing Miller.

St. Clair Circuit Court case number: 09-L-0081.