Cecelia Palmer was in charge of her sister-in-law’s funeral arrangements earlier this year. Now, she looks back and agonizes about her decision.
Palmer’s sister-in-law Nicole Williams-Smith was supposedly cremated after her services at South Chicago Chapel, but when her family received the ashes, Palmer said it looked more like a pile of dirt and rocks.
“What are these?” Palmer said, looking at a photo of the alleged ashes the funeral home gave her. “Are they even human remains?”
Palmer is now joining the growing number of loved ones demanding answers from the funeral home and city and state officials about what actually happened the remains of their deceased friends and family. Around 25 people gathered at a vigil Sunday evening at the South Chicago Chapel to release balloons and call for criminal charges in the case.
Cecelia Palmer, who was among those attending the vigil Sunday, shows a picture on her phone of the remains of her sister-in-law Nicole Williams-Smith, which she received from South Chicago Chapel. She questioned whether that’s what they really were — they looked like rocks, she said.
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
“Please, city officials, please step up and do your job,” said Lisette Guillen, executive director of Case Files Chicago. “We need criminal charges on this matter because this behavior is horrific and criminal.”
The state shut down South Chicago Chapel earlier this month after receiving a tip that owners Clark and Johanna Morgan were improperly storing bodies. Inside the funeral home, investigators found 56 bodies in various stages of decomposition. For months neighbors complained about the smell coming from the building.
“Was she among those?” Palmer said. “I’ve called and left messages with everybody, emails, so far haven’t heard.”
It wasn’t the first time the couple was accused of mishandling remains. Last year, a Chicago Heights Crematory owned by the Morgans was shut down.
Marshawna and Franquella Campbell, whose mom Shawnese Shannon died earlier this year, vowed alongside Shannon’s wife Alesia Williams-Shannon to continue asking questions and pressuring public officials until they know where her remains are. Knowing that the Morgans haven’t been criminally charged doesn’t sit right with Franquella Campbell.
“While we have to suffer and they’re just walking around like there’s nothing going on,” she said. “Just living life and we’re out here suffering. We sad, we depressed … why can’t we get the peace that him and his wife have after they put us all through hell? … Just give us our family back.”
Marketa Kristofek’s son Marcus died in 2010, and since then, she says she’s received conflicting and confusing information from the funeral home about his remains, including a form that was dated before her son had died. She said she’s filed more than 30 complaints with government agencies about the incident.
Hearing the news of the dozens of decomposing bodies at South Chicago Chapel was heartbreaking, Kristofek said, but she found some solace because she was no longer alone in the experience and it’s started gaining public attention, she said.
“It was a relief because there was other people. There was no way I would ever find out that this was going on until I saw them at the news,” she said. “I don’t feel like I’m alone.”
The families were especially upset by the fact that people have apparently been going inside the chapel and asked for the city to secure the area against trespassers or anyone going inside, including the owners. A bright orange sign ordered the building closed, but it was placed out of sight until family members moved it to the front door Sunday evening.
For families still reeling with grief, the questions about where the remains of their family members ended up has complicated the process.
“You don’t have any closure because you don’t know,” Palmer said. “You don’t know where your loved one is. When you bury them, when you cremate them, you get the ashes, so you have a peace about that. This, we don’t even know.”
Shawnese Shannon’s grandson sits in front of candles during a vigil for families looking for answers about their loved ones’ remains outside South Chicago Chapel in South Deering, Sunday, Aug. 30, 2026. Shannon’s family believes that the urn of Shannon contains rocks and not her remains. | Pat Nabong/Sun-Times
Pat Nabong/Sun-Times