HOUSTON — Three teenagers are accused of digging up a corpse, removing the head and using the skull as a bong to smoke marijuana, Houston police said.
Matthew Richard Gonzalez and Kevin Wade Jones, both 17, and their 16-year-old friend were arrested Wednesday and charged with abuse of a corpse.
Police said the trio told investigators they dug up a body from an Humble-area cemetery in March, decapitated it and converted the head into a marijuana pipe.
Police said they do not have any physical evidence yet to confirm the story, but felt confident enough to pursue charges based on statements from the three teens.
According to court documents, the grave belonged to Willie Simms, an 11-year-old boy who died in 1921. Houston police have not been able to make contact with any of Simms' survivors.
KHOU-TV
Police named Matthew Gonzalez, left, and Kevin Jones as suspects.
Police were initially working on a stolen credit card case when they came upon Jones. According to court documents, it was during an interview about the credit card case that Jones told investigators about the grave theft.
It was Gonzalez who reportedly took authorities to the gravesite in an unkept cemetery along FM 1960 and showed them the hole where they dug up the body.
Because of weather elements, police have been unable to confirm if a body or casket had been disturbed.
KHOU-TV did some checking and found this type of grave-digging crime is not as uncommon as some might think.
In 2006, there was a similar case in Vermont. An 18-year-old stole a human skull from a grave and used it to make a bong.
That teen was convicted of two felonies and sentenced to 1 to 7 years in prison.
