A Texas woman has been charged with abusing a corpse after she allegedly used a scalpel to castrate the body of a registered sex offender last month, officials said.
Amber Paige Laudermilk, 34, was employed as an embalmer at Memorial Mortuary & Crematory in Houston when she allegedly mutilated the body of Charles Roy Rodriguez, 58, in February, according to a on Monday from Constable Alan Rosen of Harris County Precinct One.
Rodriguez was a registered sex offender and was charged with sexual assault in 2001. He died of natural causes at a Houston hospital in January, the statement said.
Charging documents identify two employees of Memorial Mortuary & Crematory at the scene who witnessed the crime. The first witness allegedly saw Laudermilk stab Rodriguez twice in the groin in the cremation room before cutting off his penis and placing it in his mouth.
Laudermilk told the first witness, who is an embalming student, “You didn’t see anything,” in a manner that the witness “perceived to be as threatening,” the documents said.
The second witness arrived shortly after and noticed Rodriguez’s groin area was “disfigured.” When they asked Laudermilk what had happened, she allegedly responded that the deceased had “a lot going on with him,” according to the charging documents.
A complaint was filed to police on Feb. 19.
“This case is about two troubled people: the victim who was a registered sex offender and the defendant, who is accused of viciously attacking his dead body,” Rosen said. “No matter what one thinks of his life, the law requires that he be treated with dignity in death.”
A spokesperson with Harris County Precinct One told NBC News that Laudermilk turned herself in on Tuesday and is in custody at the Harris County Jail. She has not yet posted her $5,000 bond.
The owners of the funeral home and Laudermilk did not immediately respond to NBC News requests for comment.
