Legal battle halts funeral plans for late Flint Councilman Eric Mays

The siblings of deceased Flint Councilman Eric Mays cannot move forward with a funeral for their brother this week amid a lawsuit over who has the rights to his remains, a judge ruled Thursday.

The decision comes several days after Mays’s son, Eric HaKeem Deontaye Mays, filed a lawsuit that alleges the Lawrence E. Moon Funeral Home in Flint is holding his father’s body “hostage.”

The lawsuit accuses Mays’s four siblings of conspiring to unlawfully seize control of the former councilman’s remains and profit from “their fraudulent scheme” by soliciting donations from the community for funeral services.

Judge Brian S. Pickell of Michigan’s 7th Circuit Court declined to make a final decision on the lawsuit because all four of Mays’s siblings have not yet been properly served. But Pickell said the siblings cannot hold a funeral until further notice. The judge also said Mays’s son has a right to view his father’s body.

“Though I am disappointed that this dispute will continue, I believe we are one step closer to giving my father the proper funeral service and burial I know he wanted,” HaKeem Deontaye Mays said in a statement. “I am anxious to see my father’s remains to ensure he was properly cared for by the Moon Funeral Home since the day he passed away. I would like to thank everyone in the Flint community and across the country who has supported me while I’ve been forced to fight the kind of fight no son wants to have to fight after losing his father.”

The judge recessed the hearing until Monday.

“We are hopeful that when we are before Judge Pickell again this coming Monday, March 11, we will be able to resolve this dispute in favor of our client and begin preparations to lay the late Councilman to rest,” the son’s attorney Wayne Pollock said.

Mays, a passionate and combative councilman and TikTok sensation, died at his home on Feb. 24 but didn’t leave behind a will, according to the suit, which claims only his son has next-of-kin rights to handle the remains.

The suit alleges that two of Mays’s siblings lied to the Genesee County Medical Examiner’s Office and said that Mays had no children. A third sibling, who is an employee of the funeral home, falsely claimed that he had legal authority to authorize the release of the body, the suit claims.

Now the funeral home is refusing to turn over Mays’s body to his son, even though Eric Mays provided the company with the required documentation to release the remains to him, according to the suit.

Mays’s son is asking the judge to order the release of his father’s remains to a funeral home that he chooses.

Mays was a popular and quarrelsome councilman who often posted his clashes with the council on his TikTok channel, which had more than 220,000 followers. His followers appreciated his unfiltered advocacy for Flint residents.

First elected to the council in 2013, Mays was one of the first public officials to voice concerns about the water crisis that began in 2014. While other state and city officials downplayed the crisis, Mays was an unwavering advocate for residents.