The city of Chicago is suing South Chicago Chapel weeks after dozens of mishandled human remains were discovered at the South Deering funeral home.
In a housing complaint filed Friday in Cook County Circuit Court, the city’s Department of Buildings charges a host of code violations against the funeral home, listing five pages of alleged dangerous, hazardous and unsanitary conditions that officials say overran the facility.
“This is an unlicensed funeral home that has been receiving deceased human cadavers for processing,” the complaint states. “It is apparent that none of these bodies were being ‘processed.’”
Earlier this month, officials found 56 decomposing bodies at South Chicago Chapel after a complaint was filed reporting that remains were not being properly stored.
Their discovery drew immediate scrutiny of the owners of the funeral home, who previously operated a south suburban crematory that was shut down in March 2025 after the remains of more than 100 bodies were found improperly stored there. Records identified the owners and operators of the funeral home as Clark and Johanna Morgan.
It also kicked off a regulatory blame game as officials from several agencies around the city and state try to understand what happened and what systems failed. The Morgans could not immediately be reached for comment on the city’s legal action.
Meanwhile, families affected have spent the weeks since the discovery in anguish, from rescheduling services interrupted by the mismanagement to wondering what their loved ones went through under the purview of South Chicago Chapel.
The city’s complaint states “there were 51 bodies stacked in the rear storage room” of the funeral home in varying degrees of severe decay and decomposition. Half of those bodies were inside an insufficiently operating cooler while the other half were “strewn haphazardly throughout this storage area,” the complaint alleges. There were swarms of flies and numerous rats at, near or on the bodies.
“The stench was overwhelming and could be smelled outside of the building,” the complaint states, adding, “This is an immensely unsanitary situation.”
Other alleged violations — which total 23 in all — range from not having any smoke or carbon monoxide detectors throughout the property to failing to maintain the building in a structurally safe and stable condition.
The complaint also alleges that the entire funeral home space, including the chapel and viewing rooms, was constructed without plans or permits.
Department of Buildings spokesperson Nefsa’Hyatt Brown referred questions regarding active litigation to the city’s Department of Law in response to a request for comment Monday night.
The complaint asks a Cook County judge to issue a fine of $11,500 for every day the violations are not corrected. It also seeks a temporary and permanent injunction requiring defendants to correct the alleged violations and — if the judge deems necessary — an order authorizing the city to “demolish, repair, enclose, or clean up said premises.”
The complaint names Clark and Johanna Morgan and South Chicago Chapel as defendants, alongside the facility’s owner and contract buyer.
Court records show each of the defendants have been sent a summons for a case management hearing scheduled for Sept. 24.
Tribune reporter Madeline Buckley contributed.
