Detroit suburb agrees to a US$3.25 million settlement in the case of woman found alive in a body bag

In this undated family photo provided by Erica Lattimore through Fieger Law shows her daughter, Timesha Beauchamp with her brother Steven Thompson in Southfield, Mich. Michigan authorities have agreed to reinstate the licenses of two suburban Detroit paramedics if they pass a national exam, after Timesha Beauchamp declared dead on their watch was discovered to be alive at a funeral home. Beauchamp was declared dead only to be found alive at a funeral home in August 2020. Beauchamp died on Oct. 18, 2020 at Children's Hospital in Detroit. (Courtesy Erica Lattimore through Fieger Law via AP)

A Detroit suburb has agreed to a $3.25 million settlement with the family of a young woman who had been declared dead at home but then gasped for air and opened her eyes when her body bag was unzipped at a funeral home.

Southfield paramedics were accused of gross negligence in how they responded to Timesha Beauchamp after a 911 call in 2020. The 20-year-old, who had cerebral palsy, was eventually rushed to a hospital and died two months later.

“We recognize that no resolution can undo the profound tragedy that occurred on August 23, 2020, or ease the pain experienced by Ms. Beauchamp’s family,” Southfield said in a statement. “This case involved extraordinarily difficult circumstances that arose in the complex world of a global pandemic.”

Beauchamp was struggling to breathe when her family called 911. A medical crew tried to resuscitate her and also consulted a doctor, who declared her dead over the phone without going to the home.

Later that day, a funeral home opened the body bag and found Beauchamp gasping for air. She was swiftly taken to a hospital but never recovered.

“She was put in a situation she never should have been in,” Steven Hurbis, an attorney for Beauchamp’s family, said Tuesday.

Medical professionals, he added, said Beauchamp would have survived if she had been taken immediately to a hospital from her home.

Southfield fought the lawsuit and persuaded a judge to dismiss it based on governmental immunity. The Michigan Court of Appeals, however, overturned that decision in 2024.

The Southfield fire chief had said Beauchamp’s situation might have been a case of “Lazarus syndrome,” a reference to people who come back to life without assistance after attempts to resuscitate have failed.

Ed White, The Associated Press