Corpse abuse charges dropped for former Houston mortuary owner
HOUSTON - Charges have been dropped against the owner and co-director of the now-former Richardson Mortuary.
Richardson Mortuary: Charges dropped for now-former owner
What we know:
Records confirm that all three "abuse of corpse" charges have been dropped against Michael Richardson.
Each document says prosecutors ordered the charges to be dismissed since the accusations could not be proved beyond reasonable doubt.
The documents also noted that the charges are "subject to refile," meaning they could be filed again in the future.
In late April, the same charges were dropped against the other mortuary director, Gayle Bell.
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Corpse abuse charges dismissed against Houston mortuary co-director
Charges have been dismissed against one of the two Richardson Mortuary directors charged with abuse of a corpse. Previous records revealed multiple bodies were found decomposing in a storage room.
The backstory:
On April 11, 2025, a woman went to Richardson Mortuary after she was denied entry into the building to bring clothes for her mother's funeral, which was scheduled for the following day, documents stated.
When she arrived, she found the back door open with construction workers inside. According to the witness, she found her mother's body decayed and covered in bugs. She also reported seeing other bodies in different stages of decomposition.
The mortuary was described as "very dirty, hot, not sanitary, and under construction with a strong odor of decomposition."
The witness called her brother, who arrived at the mortuary. As FOX 26 previously reported, the brother posted videos to social media saying there were several bodies in the building with no AC. Court documents stated, a crowd gathered after the brother shared the videos online. Several people came to the mortuary looking for their family members, records say.
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According to the court documents, the owner of Spectrum Deathcare Services stated he received a call from Richardson on April 11, 2025, asking if he could take several bodies to his business' cold storage.
The owner told authorities he went to the mortuary and saw the bodies were not in cold storage, but in a dirty hot room. He said several bodies were in different states of decomposition and one body was "largely liquified."
Richardson and Bell allegedly agreed to meet the owner about storing the bodies, but he has not received compensation, as of Sept. 6, according to records.
Bell claimed Richardson Mortuary was damaged on July 8, 2024, during Hurricane Beryl, court records state. She stated Richardson was responsible for repairs and during that time she did not go into the client preparation area of the building. Bell kept bringing her clients to the mortuary "without inspecting the building or the cold storage cooler," documents say.
Documents say the building had bugs inside, some even covering the bodies.
Authorities say they found about 70 human cremations stored in different parts of the building in inhumane conditions.
The Texas Funeral Service Commission on April 14 ordered Richardson Mortuary to cease and desist all operations immediately.
According to the notice, the commission inspected the business on April 11 and found that the facility failed to meet building, health and safety codes.
The commission says the establishment also "engaged in fraudulent, unprofessional, or deceptive conduct in providing funeral services or merchandise to a customer and engaged in dishonest conduct, willful conduct or negligence in the practice of embalming or funeral directing that is likely to or does deceive, defraud, or otherwise injure the public in violation of TEX. OCC. CODE § 651.459(2) and § 651.459 (3)."
The Source: Court records from the Harris County District Clerk's Office and previous FOX 26 reporting.