After several years of trying to conceive a baby, a married Spanaway couple finally became expectant parents last fall. But after they lost their daughter, Ryleigh, in the womb, they say their heartbreak was compounded when a local funeral home mishandled the infant’s remains.
Ashleigh and Michael Thornburg on Monday sued Mountain View Funeral Home in Lakewood, alleging negligence, breach of contract, fraud and other claims for failing to properly care for their daughter after she was stillborn in February, court records show.
The lawsuit, lodged in Pierce County Superior Court, claims that the couple signed a contract with Mountain View to embalm their daughter roughly a month in advance of a planned funeral. Instead, the funeral home took nearly three weeks to perform the procedure to preserve Ryleigh’s body, the suit alleges…