Woman Charged After Throwing Her Boyfriend's Mother's Ashes Into Lake: Police

Fort Worth, Texas -- A 40-year-old woman in Fort Worth, Texas, was arrested and charged after allegedly throwing her boyfriend's mother's ashes into Lake Worth.

Augustine Gladney was charged with abuse of a corpse on May 4 after allegedly dumping the ashes belonging to her 38-year-old boyfriend Ernest Smith's mother into the lake, NBC 5 Dallas-Fort Worth reported, citing the Fort Worth Police Department.

Abuse of a corpse is categorized as a class A misdemeanor act that carries a $4,000 fine plus up to a year behind bars in Texas.

Smith informed authorities that he discovered that his mother's urn was missing when he returned home one evening. The Dallas Express reported that this took place on June 3, 2020.

He told officers that he overheard a phone conversation between Gladney and her daughter, who was at their home at the time, police said.

Smith claimed he heard Gladney tell her daughter over the phone that she threw the urn in the lake, according to authorities.

Gladney texted her boyfriend around four hours after he overheard her conversation, he said.

She allegedly admitted that she had thrown the green urn with butterfly patterns containing his mother’s ashes into Lake Worth, according to the Fort Worth Police Department.

Police advised Smith to keep his text message exchanges with Gladney as evidence.

A possible motive was not disclosed, but Smith told officers that he and Gladney were not on good terms at that point in their relationship, according to Dallas Express.

The incident received attention recently after a video surfaced on TikTok showing a woman throwing what appeared to be ashes and then an urn into a river.

“He cheated so I threw his mom's ashes in the river,” the caption read.

Authorities have not confirmed if the woman in the video was Gladney.

Social media users, however, suggested that the TikTok video was a skit based on Gladney’s actions.

Gladney’s LinkedIn page showed she worked as a medical office assistant and specialist at The College of Health Care Professions in Texas.

It is unclear as of this writing if she remains in police custody.