Texas — A Texas funeral home recently went viral for all the wrong reasons, after an enraged family member of a decedent filmed the conditions within.
The Harris County Sheriff’s Office launched a new investigation into Richardson Mortuary in Houston, Texas, after a video of several apparently neglected bodies went viral on social media.
KTRK, a local ABC affiliate, reported that after a family member of one of the deceased posted the video, several other family members arrived at the scene, concerned for their loved ones inside.
One woman reportedly recognized her own grandmother, telling KTRK that she was “supposed to be cremated already.”
The situation became even more chaotic when the man filming the video was confronted by a mortuary employee, who allegedly stabbed the customer.
Local Fox affiliate KRIV spoke with the alleged victim, who told the station on the scene that he was driving himself to the hospital. Police told KRIV that he had only sustained a “superficial” wound to the stomach and that the employee may have been acting in self defense. An investigation into the stabbing was underway.
Neither the alleged victim nor the employee were identified, but the alleged victim’s sister spoke with several outlets, including KTRK, about the conditions inside Richardson Mortuary. Tamara McGruder and her brother, who shot the viral video, had gone to the funeral home to check on the status of their mother and uncle.
When they arrived, they discovered several bodies being stored carelessly throughout the building, which appeared to be under construction. None of the rooms, including those where bodies were being stored, had working air conditioning. Some bodies were found in the open, while others were in caskets or plastic body bags.
McGruder told KTRK, “There are bodies in caskets, boxes, and plastic bags.” There’s no air conditioning, just gnats. “It smells like rotten blood.” She claimed that when she discovered her mother’s casket, “she had gnats in her face.”
Murita Brown was one of the family members who recognized her grandmother’s burial outfit in the video. She told KTRK, “I saw a lady in purple in the same suit as my grandmother, so I said, ‘Wait a minute, that look like my grand momma.’”
She added that her grandmother was supposed to have been cremated last month, saying, “This was March 21st, and she was supposed to be cremated already, and we’ve been waiting for her ashes and nothing has happened.”
Demtrious Riley-Sylvester told KRIV that the mortuary informed her family that her brother’s remains had been cremated, but this was not the case. She stated, “It’s like some trash or a dog. She just threw him away like he was trash, and I believed her. “We were just waiting for them to bring the ashes.”
Harris County Precinct 7 Constable Smokie Phillips told KTRK that he knew the business owner personally and that he was currently hospitalized after suffering a heart attack. Phillips told the station that the owner allowed the bodies to be transported to other funeral homes.
Richardson Mortuary has reportedly been the subject of 14 complaints in the last decade.
