$28 million awarded to parents of dead baby found inside box outside North Miami gas station

Jury finds funeral home negligent in handling of boy's body

The body of David Manzano was found inside a box next to a dumpster outside a U-Gas station in North Miami in September 2014.

MIAMI – A jury has awarded $28 million to the parents of a baby who was found dead inside a box outside a North Miami gas station.

David Manzano was born Sept. 1, 2014, and died shortly after birth. His parents signed a contract with Carey Royal Ram'n Mortuary to have their son cremated, but the infant's body was discovered four days later inside a box next to a dumpster at a U-Gas station on Northwest 119th Street.

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Attorney Neal Hirschfeld said the boy's parents, Raul Manzano and Catheryne Lucero, didn't know that their son hadn't been cremated.

Jarren Hood, the son of the funeral home's owner, told officers that he was taking the boy's body to the crematorium, but someone broke into his van and stole the box containing the child's body.

The jury found Thursday that the funeral home was negligent in its handling of the boy's body.