Charge: Woman left mom’s body in Twin Cities home for 1-2 months in hopes God would ‘resurrect her’

A woman left her mother’s body in their Brooklyn Center home for one to two months, telling police she did not report the death in hopes God would resurrect her, according to a criminal complaint.

Charice Antoinette Goude, 55, was charged Thursday in Hennepin County District Court with interference with a body, a felony, in connection with the death of her mother, Rita Louise Garrett, 73, in late 2022.

Goude was charged by summons and is due in court on March 11. A message was left with Goude seeking a response to the allegations.

According to the complaint:

Police were sent to the home on Dec. 30, 2022, on a report of a woman who was unconscious and not breathing. With firefighters already there, officers found her body in a bedroom.

“It was apparent she had been dead for 1-2 months due to the level of decomposition observed,” the complaint read.

Police spoke to Goude, who said she was the sole caretaker and revealed that her mother died in November.

Goude said she did not report her mother’s death “because she was waiting for God to resurrect her,” the complaint noted.

Police were given medical records by Goude that showed Garrett last saw a doctor in April 2022, and she had prescriptions for diabetes and high blood pressure. Goude acknowledged withholding medications from her mother and wanting to treat her “naturally.”

Police searched the home and found eight prescription medications for Garrett, with the last one filled in August 2022. Most of the bottles were empty.

Goude’s former husband said he owns the home and lives in the basement, only coming out to use the bathroom and the kitchen. He said Garrett had dementia, high blood pressure and was bedridden.

He said he last saw Garrett sometime before Thanksgiving.

The former husband said he started noticing a bad odor on Dec. 24, 2022, and thought something might have died in the walls. Days later, he continued, he noticed the same smell in the hall outside Garrett’s room. He went in the room, found her dead and called police.

Officers noticed efforts to cover up the odor, including plug-in and bottled air fresheners, and candles in the kitchen. They also saw that the master bedroom windows were open and had paper taped over the lower windows “to prevent anyone from seeing inside,” the complaint read.

Police also found communication from that month that included Goude suggesting a holiday party had to be moved because of the odor coming from what might be a dead rodent.

The Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that it found no obvious cause of death, given the body’s advanced decomposition.