Overview
- Harris County prosecutors dismissed three abuse-of-a-corpse counts against co-owner Gayle Bell, with court papers noting the case can be refiled.
- Michael Richardson, the other co-owner, still faces multiple counts and is due in court on May 28.
- The criminal case began in April 2025 after families found decomposing bodies in a hurricane-damaged building with no working air conditioning.
- Investigators reported at least a dozen bodies and about 70 cremation containers kept in filthy, hot rooms, and they moved remains to other funeral homes.
- State regulators shut the mortuary after an inspection found health and safety violations, and families have spent months reclaiming ashes, exposing weak oversight of funeral homes.