A Massachusetts woman from a humble background was delighted to learn she had two sisters after doing a 23andMe DNA test - but the reunion soured when she learned they were worth $28 million and sued for her share.
Carmen Thomas, 28, submitted a 23andMe DNA test in February 2023, leading her to find her biological father and her half-sisters.
But when the Lexington native connected with her siblings, she soon found out her father, Joseph Brown, tragically died five years earlier from an undiagnosed aortic aneurysm.
The 43-year-old went to Salem Hospital's emergency room the morning of January 13, 2018 after experiencing upper abdominal pain that soon spread to his chest and back, according to a legal filing reviewed by the Daily Mail.
After nearly an entire day in the hospital, Brown's shortness of breath and pain worsened. By the time doctors finally found he was in fact suffering from an aneurysm, he took his final breath.
His devastated wife, Kristin Eckhardt and their two daughters, Kali and Abigail Brown went on to sue Salem Hospital, claiming medical staff could have diagnosed him about 20 hours sooner, which could have saved his life.
When the trial concluded in April 2023, a jury ruled in the family's favor and awarded them $28.8 million.
A month before the settlement, Thomas had reached out to Kali, now 26, telling her that she was her half-sister following her at home DNA test results.
Carmen Thomas, 28, sued her siblings after finding out they won $28 million in a medical-malpractice lawsuit involving their father, Joseph Brown, 43.
Court documents showed several images of Thomas with her half-siblings, smiling and cheerful before she found out about their fortune.
Thomas' lawsuit against her family painted the picture of a happy reunion, filled with reconnection, pictures with her two sisters and other precious moments where she met her father's relatives.
But in the Brown family's opposition filing against Thomas, both Kali and Abigail 'were very upset and hesitant' to meet Thomas, but did so anyway 'to be kind to this woman,' the lawsuit stated.
Soon, the family determined that Thomas, who Brown had with her mother Elizabeth Ruth Thomas, 'was very assertive and possessive with the Brown Family from the inception,' the legal filing stated.
'Even more disturbing, Plaintiff immediately attempted to prey on the family financially and emotionally by demanding that they pay for her gas, food, and alcohol, and threatening herself with self-harm if they did not answer her texts,' the family's lawyer, Joseph D. Lipchitz, wrote.
'Plaintiff's gambit of attempting to obtain an injunction to freeze the assets of a grieving family is not only meritless, as a matter of law, it should been seen as an afront to this Court.'
After dealing with these behaviors from Thomas, her sister Kali 'sought to distance herself' from her on April 7, 2023, the lawsuit said.
Her behavior really came to a head after Kali learned from her grandmother that Thomas had called their father a 'dead beat dad.' The family then 'cut off all contact' with her as a result.
Additionally, the Brown family does not believe Thomas is their late husband and father's daughter, citing that her biological mother 'has never contacted the Brown Family claiming that she had a relationship with Mr. Brown,' the filing stated.
The family's attorney also noted that Thomas failed to reach out to Eckhardt during the probate action, or legal process where a court supervises the settlement of an estate.
She also never filed an action to establish paternity in regard to Brown, the lawsuit noted.
In the end, the lawsuit Thomas filed against the grieving family was 'resolved favorably' for them, Lipchitz told the Wall Street Journal.
'The death of their father was extraordinarily traumatic, as you can imagine. That was compounded by this putative heir all of a sudden showing up and demanding money,' the attorney added.
No further details of any settlement have been shared.
Just before his tragic death, Brown, of Mississippi, had testing done that had ruled out he was suffering from a heart attack and pulmonary embolism; blood tests revealed he had an elevated white blood cell count.
He was then admitted at the hospital as doctors feared he had an infection after puncturing his foot days earlier, William Kenyon of Boston law firm Lubin & Meyer, said in court documents.
Brown's been remembered as a 'loving and dedicated husband and father' who 'was happiest when he was at home with his wife and daughters.'
In the midst of the infection, Brown's chest and breathing symptoms grew increasingly worse, leaving him in 'excruciating pain,' the filing said.
It wasn't until 9.30am, the morning after he first stepped foot in the hospital, that Eckhardt learned her husband was experiencing an aneurysm.
Hospital staff rushed him to be flown to Boston for an emergency surgery, but before that could even happen Eckhardt got the heartbreaking call her partner, whom she met in 1997,had died.
Brown's been remembered as a 'loving and dedicated husband and father' who 'was happiest when he was at home with his wife and daughters,' according to his obituary.
'Joe was truly one of a kind, who touch the lives of many people; he will be fondly remembered and deeply missed by his family and friends,' it added.