HOUSTON – After the news broke Monday of the charges against two former funeral directors at a Houston mortuary, FOX 26 spoke with family members affected by the alleged crimes.Â
Families react to corpse abuse charges
What they’re saying:
Donald Gordon and his uncle Hilton Lyles talked with FOX 26 back in April when the story was unfolding.Â
Gordon shared details about his mother’s death and described the way Richardson Mortuary handled his mother’s cremation.Â
“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.Â
Donald shared that since his mother’s 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.Â
“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.”Â
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.Â
“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… it’s 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 families do not have to go through this it means a lot.”Â
Lyles and Gordon both tell FOX 26 their family has obtained an attorney, and they are looking to make sure their story is told.Â
“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.Â
“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.Â
Funeral directors charged after bodies found decomposing
The backstory:
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.
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.
Authorities say they found about 70 human cremations stored in different parts of the building in inhumane conditions.
The Source: Information in this article came from FOX 26 interviews with involved parties.Â