The lawsuit says both the university and the city engaged in tortious interference with a dead body and inflicted emotional distress on Lionell Dotson.
A 1986 commission report called the decision to bomb an occupied row house “unconscionable.”
Sue Africa, who lost her son Tomaso in the 1985 bombing, said the effort to identify the remains almost seem moot. “Those remains, no matter who they are, are going to be taken care of by us,” Sue told WHYY News, “because our belief is life.”
It’s unclear whether the bones found in the box were actually autopsy specimens or unidentified remains forgotten in a muddled chain of custody.
By Ximena Conde/WHYY Four surviving mothers said they didn’t know the fire left any remains at all, until the recent news broke.
Revelations surrounding the remains of MOVE bombing victims spurred the resignation of Philadelphia’s top health official.
In a statement, Mayor Jim Kenney said he learned of a “very disturbing incident” in which Thomas Farley had bombing victims’ remains cremated and disposed of, rather than returning them to the family.
Bones thought to have belonged to two girls killed in the 1985 bombing were stored at the Penn Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology for decades through a muddled chain of custody.
