3 Kingwood teens accused of abusing corpse

HOUSTON — Three Kingwood teens have been arrested and accused of digging up a secluded grave and removing a skull in Humble, a city north of Houston.

Kevin Wade Jones, 17, and Matthew Richard Gonzalez, 17, both of Kingwood, told Houston police that around March 15 they and a 16-year old juvenile dug up a grave, removed the skull from the coffin and converted it into a "bong," a device used to smoke marijuana, according to court documents.

Jones and Gonzalez were arrested Wednesday night and are being held on misdemeanor abuse of a corpse charges, said Houston police Sgt. John Chomiak. The juvenile was referred to Harris County juvenile justice system.

Houston police were initially interviewing Jones about the use of a stolen debit card when Jones told them about the grave theft, according to court records. Asked why Jones would volunteer such a story, Chomiak said, "we can only speculate and guess to what goes on in the criminal mind."

Gonzalez confirmed the story to investigators in a follow-up interview. Police were led to a heavily-wooded site in Humble where they found a knocked-over headstone and water-filled hole more than four feet deep. At the time, the muddy water did not allow police to see if the coffin had been disturbed.

"They dug into this gravesite and that was enough to warrant the abuse of corpse charge," Chomiak said. "There has to be further investigation into the actual gravesite."

A woman who answered the phone at Gonzalez's home, but declined to identify herself, said, "I have no comment right now."

Attempts to locate a telephone number for Jones were not immediately successful and it wasn't clear from court records if he had an attorney.

The grave belonged to Willie Simms, according to court documents. Chomiak said that Simms' next-of-kin had not been notified. While residents in the area knew of the cemetery's existence, it did not appear to be maintained. Preliminary reports indicated it was a 19th-century "veterans" cemetery, he said.

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