Adell Totten (Shelby County Jail).
A Tennessee man was arrested after he allegedly broke into his mom’s home and flushed his brother’s ashes down the toilet.
Memphis police responded on Friday to an apartment complex in the northeast suburbs upon reports of a burglary. The victim told cops she saw her son, 33-year-old Adell Totten, break a window and enter her home, according to an arrest affidavit. He then allegedly tore down the indoor security cameras. After that, his mother accused him of taking her son and his brother Dantelle Totten’s cremated ashes and flushing them down the toilet. Dantelle Totten died in July 2023 at the age of 33, according to his obituary.
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After disposing of the ashes, Adell Totten remained on the scene where cops arrested him and took him to the Shelby County Jail on a $5,000 bond. He also allegedly stole a $10 cap from the home. The suspect did not live with his mother and had been barred from the property. He’s facing charges of aggravated battery and abuse of a corpse. His next court date is scheduled for Wednesday.
Records show the suspect had just been released from jail earlier this month for shattering the window of his mother’s neighbor’s home on June 19. The neighbor accused Totten of throwing a brick through her window, causing some $5,300 in damage, an arrest affidavit said. Cops noted the incident was captured on surveillance video and clearly showed Totten committing the act.
He was found guilty of vandalism on Jan. 5 and sentenced to the 190 days in jail he already served, according to records. Totten had repeatedly been arrested last year for continuing to show up at his mom’s apartment complex despite being trespassed, records show.
