The family of a New Jersey man says an organ donor network ignored his wishes after he died from a heart attack at home. Keith Lott, 47, suffered a heart attack on May 16, his family told NJ.com. He and his wife, Brook, were having sex when suddenly he slumped over. “He was falling on me, an d I couldn’t understand him,” Brook said. “It only took five minutes [for paramedics to arrive], but it felt like it took hours.” Keith Lott elected not to be an organ donor, but one New Jersey organization tried to convince his family otherwise. (Photo Credit: Instagram/Keith Lott) First responders tried CPR and shocking his heart several times before taking him to Cooper University Hospital in Camden. ‘Get Your Worker’: Black Woman Says White Supermarket Employee Harassed Her Over Shopping Cart, Then Police Made Matters Worse Doctors determined blood had stopped flowing through Lott’s body, causing his brain to swell. He was declared brain dead three days later. Obstacle Before Burial Lott had recently converted to Islam after marrying Brook in 2023. According to Islamic law, he needed to be buried within three days of his death. But in less than two hours after Lott was declared dead, representatives from the NJ Sharing Network showed up at the hospital to harvest his organs, his family said. “I said, ‘Hold up,” Keith’s brother, Alex Lott, told NJ.com. “He’s Muslim. Religion trumps everything.” “I didn’t want his body opened up like that,” Lott’s mother, Minnie Lott, told NJ.com. “Even separate from him being Muslim.” Before he converted to Muslim, Lott was listed as an organ donor on his Garden State driver’s license. He updated it in 2025 to follow what the family claims is the Muslim belief that the body should not be altered in life or death. (Islamic doctrine on organ donation varies across the Muslim world and is not universally understood or applied to bar the practice.) Tiffany Lott, Keith’s sister-in-law, said the reps didn’t care. They told the family “when you check that box to be a donor, it’s a lifetime contract.” But that’s not true. According to New Jersey law, donors have the right to amend or revoke “an anatomical gift” at any time before death. “I get it that people out there need these parts, these body parts,” Alex Lott said. “But if someone made a vow with his faith that he does not want to be a donor, you have to respect that.” The representatives told the family Keith had signed up to be an organ donor with his 2021 license, without mentioning his renewal in 2025. “They said you have to go to the registry to get yourself removed,” Keith’s brother said. Doctors, nurses and other hospital staff seemed conflicted about who to listen to. Alex Lott said a nurse told him she’d lose her job if she took his brother off life support. “We’re taking him off the machine, and if we have to carry him out of her ourselves, we’ll carry him out because we have to bury him within three days,” the brother said. It’s unclear why Lott was still on life support if he was already declared dead. Lawmaker Gets Involved A few days later, Lott’s niece, Blake Lott, called her boss. She is a Rowan University political science graduate who is interning for state Sen. Paul Moriarty, a Gloucester Democrat. NJ.com reported she asked Moriarty if he knew of a good attorney to call. But after she laid out the case, staffers got to work. “They basically told [the hospital] what they were doing was illegal,” she said, referencing a conversation she had with staffers. “They said you’re not going against the family’s wishes, and his license? He’s not an organ donor, and there’s the religious aspect.” Two hours after calling the lawmaker, the New York Post reported the NJ Sharing Network agreed to “release the body” to the family. The NJ Sharing Network has faced several allegations. Whistleblowers provided “evidence of fraud, cover-ups and illegal practices, including an instance where NJTO proceeded with organ recovery from a patient showing signs of life,” the House Ways and Means Committee said in a statement. Moriarity had extensive conversations with the Motor Vehicle Commission to pinpoint any holes in the system. He reported the database is up to date. “This certainly points to gaps in the system, and I don’t think the gaps are at the Motor Vehicle Commission,” he said. Moriarty introduced a bill to address the issue. If passed, it would require organ procurement organizations to verify and rely on MVC, Donate Life NJ Registry, or another authorized donor registry data source. “I can’t imagine having to make the painful decision to remove life support machines so your brain-dead loved one can pass on peacefully, only to have a stranger say, ‘Not so fast. We’re in charge. We’re going to keep him alive to harvest his organs,” Moriarty said. “I can’t imagine what was going on in that room.” Keith was buried three days later, in line with his religious wishes, according to NJ.com. Atlanta Black Star reached out to the Sharing Network and the family but hasn’t heard back. ‘Hold Up!’: New Jersey Man Dies Suddenly, Then Family Says ‘Strangers’ Swooped In to Harvest His Body Parts ...read more read less