A Brooklyn judge was forced to play Solomon over the body of a man left in the morgue for more than nine months while his mom and common-law wife duked it out over what to do with his remains.
Supreme Court Justice Bernadette Bayne finally ruled that the mother can cremate him — but the wife gets to hold a ceremony with his ashes.
The family war began after Oufman Staton, 35, of Staten Island was fatally stabbed in the neck by his brother, Jamel Staton, 38, during a fight inside Jamel’s Brownsville, Brooklyn, apartment, on April 30, cops said.
Staton’s body was taken to the coroner’s office and put on ice.
Staton’s common-law wife of 17 years, Leotta Baird, filed papers in Brooklyn Supreme Court for permission to bury for her longtime lover, saying it the wish of her and their two sons.
But the dead man’s mother, Alma Staton, refused to cooperate, arguing that Staton should be cremated in accordance with her own religious beliefs.
Alma noted that she and Staton were devout members of the Moorish National Republic, also referred to as the Washataw tribe, the papers say.
According to Washataw law, any member who passes away must be cremated in a private ceremony.
In October, Bayne finally ruled that the Medical Examiner’s Office must release Staton’s body to a funeral home of Alma’s choosing “for the purposes of cremation, and a public ceremony at that funeral home or another to be selected by Leotta.”
Alma still has yet to claim Staton’s body. She declined to comment on the matter Monday.
Baird’s attorney, James Ingoglia, told The Post, “Our client would like to have this resolved as soon as possible so she can have the appropriate ceremony to say a final goodbye to her loved one and the children would like the same.”
Jamel Staton was arrested on murder charges one day after the attack. He later pleaded guilty to manslaughter and is awaiting sentencing.