HOUSTON — Charges have been dropped against the owner of a now-closed Houston funeral home.
According to the now-dropped charges, investigators alleged that multiple bodies were stored in dirty, non-refrigerated rooms. Court documents show that Richardson’s co-defendant in the cases, Gayle Elaine Bell, told investigators the building was damaged during Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and was undergoing repairs at the time.
Bell was facing the same charges as Richardson, and those were also dropped.
Charging documents said one woman discovered her mother’s body in a state of advanced decay and covered in bugs after being denied access for several days when she found an open back door with construction workers inside. She also reportedly saw other bodies in various stages of decomposition.
After news broke of the allegedly improperly stored bodies, families and community members gathered outside the mortuary, desperate for information and trying to find their loved ones.
Previous reports have been updated to reflect that the charges have been dropped.
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