Richardson Mortuary directors face multiple abuse of corpse charges, body found 'liquified'
Former funeral directors charged with felonies
The charges come after bodies were found in horrifying states of decay at Richardson Mortuary in Houston.
HOUSTON - Court documents reveal the funeral directors at Richardson Mortuary are facing multiple charges of abuse of corpse after multiple bodies were found in various stages of decomposition in a storage room, exposed and with no working air conditioner.
Michael Richardson and Gayle Bell are both charged with three counts of abuse of corpse, according to Harris County court documents.
Both Bell and Richardson were funeral directors for Richardson Mortuary at 3201 Brookfield Drive.
Funeral directors charged after bodies were found decomposing
What we know:
On April 11, 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.
Houston: Man stabbed at mortuary after finding exposed bodies
A man was stabbed by a mortuary worker after checking on his mother's funeral arrangements. He found multiple bodies lying around the mortuary with no AC. FOX 26's Jonathan Mejia spoke to impacted families and received information from officials.
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.
Southwest Houston: Man stabbed by mortuary worker after finding exposed bodies, officials say
A man was stabbed by an employee at a Houston mortuary after discovering bodies lying around the funeral home, according to officials.
According to the court documents, the owner of Spectrum Deathcare Services stated he received a call from Richardson on April 11 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."
SUGGESTED: Mother claims she has not received her daughter's remains from Richardson Mortuary for 15 months
Richardson and Bell allegedly agreed to moat the owner for 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.
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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.
Richardson Mortuary issued cease and desist
Dig deeper:
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.
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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)."
Stabbing at mortuary after bodies found
The backstory:
According to the Houston Police Department, they received a report of an assault at Richardson Mortuary on April 11. The caller told police that someone had been stabbed.
The victim was found to be the brother mentioned before who was posting on social media.
Man stabbed at Houston mortuary while searching for mother's body
The sister of the alleged stabbing victim says that family went to the mortuary to check on their mother's body and found the building in concerning conditions. FOX 26's Jonathan Mejia spoke to the victim's sister and the man who owns the building that the mortuary rents.
HPD Captain Jim Dale says the man was stabbed by an employee at the mortuary. The employee allegedly allowed the man to enter the building so he could check on funeral services for his mother.
After the man posted the video on social media, his family members arrived at the scene. The employee and the man allegedly got into a fight, and the employee claims to have stabbed the man out of self-defense.
The victim allegedly suffered a "superficial wound."
Families react to news of charges for 2 former funeral directors
Why you should care:
Donald Gordon and his uncle Hilton Lyles spoke with FOX 26 back in April when the story was unfolding.
Gordon shared details about his mothers death, and described the way Richardson Mortuary handled his mothers cremation.
"After my mother passed, and then we had her service, there was no communication about what was going on, so my mother passed in December, and we didn't hear anything until after they reached out in April, when everything got onto the news and even then everything was shady. I met with someone that was not at the memorial or the church. She came and brought my mother's remains in a box in a bag," said Donald.
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Donald shared that since his mothers death, he and his uncle, along with other family members, do not feel a sense of relief after the charges against Richardson and Belle. They are still hoping justice will prevail.
"Whenever I think about my mother's legacy, that's unfortunately, part of it to be able to find a new normal or to be able to create a new normal. With this, I have not been able to process that that far," said Gordon, "Trying to navigate the emotions, trying to navigate the capacity of what happened, but it's definitely a step on the healing path, but as far as feeling better about it, I can say I do feel better about it."
His uncle, Hilton Lyles, says he does not feel any sense of relief, and he is still angry, but he is hoping that there will be some form of new legislation passed that will prevent this from happening again.
"It feels proper that's what should happen. I'm glad that there is a good justice system, and they are doing what they are doing to help this not happen again. It was a sickening feeling just, its not a comfortable feeling, just kind of physically ill just thinking about it, and other families just hope they have some healing from this," said Lyles. "I'm very appreciative that the state is all over this, because there is something as Texans as Americans as humans that we just hold dear as a community our community collectively and that is the mourning process and for them to do their part to make sure other familes do not have to go through this. It means alot."
Lyles and Gordon both tell FOX 26 their family has obtained an attorney, and they are looking to make sure their story is told.
"Tell your family you love them and trust, but verify period whoever recommended the funeral home. I don't care who it is you verify that they are doing good business," said Lyles.
"About a plan of action like I said, we do want to confirm the remains that we do have are my mother, that's vital," said Gordon.
The Source: Information has been gathered from Harris County court documents, previous FOX 26 reports.