McKeesport man accused of flushing grandparents' ashes down toilet

A 33-year-old Pittsburgh man is accused of flushing his grandparents’ ashes down a toilet after his mother kicked him out of her McKeesport residence.

McKeesport police said Thomas Porter Wells of Pittsburgh’s Beechview neighborhood had a falling out with his mother last September after she complained about his drinking and marijuana use and asked him to leave her residence, where he had been staying for a brief time.

The mother, Denise Porter, told police in early February she learned through a relative that Wells flushed the ashes of her late mother and father down a toilet before leaving her residence, according to a criminal complaint. The ashes had been kept in a box set up with a memorial in Porter’s bedroom, the complaint said.

The complaint said Wells denied flushing the ashes in a phone conversation with Porter, but Porter reported Wells later told her in a text message that he would flush her remains down a toilet after she died, the complaint said.

Wells faces two counts of abuse of a corpse and one count of criminal mischief. He was arraigned Monday and is free on nonmonetary bond. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for May 13.

Court documents did not list an attorney for Wells, who could not be reached.