Drug War Casualty

Drug war casualty? Houston teen dies after swallowing a whole bag of meth in police traffic stop

Lone Star College student and Kingwood teen Madeleine Gene Richardson died after making what appears to be a panicked decision to swallow a bag of meth when the police stopped the car she was in.

On Friday around 2:45 p.m., a sheriff deputy pulled over a vehicle on U.S. 290 near Brenham that was speeding.

After drug paraphernalia and pot residue was found in the car, the 20-year-old driver, Gary Keife, and Richardson, the 19-year-old passenger, were arrested along with another passenger.

Keife and Richardson were charged with a Class-C misdemeanor for the items found in the car and were taken to the police station. The third passenger was released.

"It's a tragedy when it is such a young person. I don't know, maybe she panicked or got scared."

Richardson looked ill upon arriving at the station, according to reports. When the officers asked, she admitted to swallowing a baggie of methamphetamine, having apparently made a split-second decision when the car was pulled over.

In Texas, possession of methamphetamine is a felony.

"It's a tragedy when it is such a young person. I don't know, maybe she panicked or got scared," Chief Deputy Jay Petrash of the Washington County Sheriff's Office told the Beaumont Enterprise.

Richardson was rushed to Scott & White Hospital in Brenham. On Saturday morning at 4:30 a.m., the 19-year-old was pronounced dead. The amount of meth that she frantically ingested is unknown because autopsy results have not been released yet.

Her funeral will be held at St. Martha Catholic Church in Porter, Texas on Thursday.

Madeleine "Madi" Gene Richardson passed away on Saturday morning after swallowing a baggie of meth before being pulled over for speeding.

Madeleine "Madi" Gene Richardson died from swallowing bag of meth July 2013

Dignity Memorial

Madeleine "Madi" Gene Richardson passed away on Saturday morning after swallowing a baggie of meth before being pulled over for speeding.

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Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

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Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”