HARRIS COUNTY, Texas — A Houston funeral home owner is facing multiple felony charges after investigators said bodies were left to decompose in sweltering, unsanitary conditions inside a damaged mortuary.

Michael Richardson, who owns Richardson Mortuary on Brookfield Drive, is charged in Harris County with several counts of felony abuse of corpse. Court documents say he and co-defendant Gayle Elaine Bell are accused of knowingly treating human corpses "in an offensive manner” this past April.

The allegations paint a picture of what investigators found inside the mortuary. According to the charges, multiple bodies were stored in dirty, non-refrigerated rooms. Court documents show that Bell told investigators the building was damaged during Hurricane Beryl in 2024 and was undergoing repa

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