Family of 19-year-old killed in robbery wanted his hair as a keepsake but says funeral home lost it

HARRIS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) - The grieving family of a 19-year-old Texas man killed during a robbery is frustrated at the funeral home that they say lost some of his hair they wanted as a keepsake.

Kenneth Thomas, 19, was killed Aug. 26 during a robbery in Houston's Fifth Ward. In the wake of his death, family members say they asked Oasis Funeral and Cremation in Aldine to save his hair for them prior to his cremation.

"It was very heartbreaking 'cause it was traumatic. How he died was uncalled for," said Lakisha Johnson, Thomas' cousin.

The family says Thomas' hair was styled in wicks at the time of his death. Some of his relatives, including his twin, planned to weave his hair into theirs.

"He'll never die. As long as we're here, he'll be alive," said Anastasia Kindle, Thomas' cousin.

Weeks after the funeral, the family received a bag of hair, but they say they realized almost immediately that it was not Thomas'. They say they were very familiar with the 19-year-old's hair because they styled it.

"We don't have it anymore," Johnson said. "We don't have that piece of him. That was the only part of him that we decided to keep, that we wanted to keep in the family, to keep him alive. We don't have it, and it hurts. It is not right at the end of the day."

Tanya Roberson, the owner of the funeral home, admitted the family received another person's hair and says she can't find Thomas'.

Because of the incident, the family questioned if they were given the correct person's ashes.

"Makes us question everything, even his ashes," Johnson said. "Is this really him in this urn? We need to know that. Because if that's not him in the urn, who is it?"

Roberson says she cut Thomas' hair herself, so she knows it was done. She says she recently had construction at her facility and believes the hair got misplaced during that time. She says she's still looking for it.

"I take accountability for the issue that happened. I do. As much as you try to do everything perfect, sometimes things still slip between the cracks," Roberson said.

As for the family's concern about the ashes, she says there's no question that those are Thomas'.