Houston Third Ward funeral home operator accused of forging will to seize $2.2 million estate

A Houston funeral home operator was charged Tuesday with five felonies amid accusations that they forged a man's will and used it to acquire $2.2 million worth of assets.

Unique Mica Green-Battle, 47, was charged with theft of more than $300,000 and four counts of forgery, according to Harris County court records.

Green-Battle is the owner of A Community Funeral Home, a business on Wheeler Avenue in Houston's Third Ward. 

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Green-Battle is accused of posing as the spouse of Lawrence Gammon, a 78-year-old man who died in June 2025. Gammon's family hired A Community Funeral Home to handle funeral arrangements and provided Green-Battle with personal information.

Weeks after Gammon's death, Green-Battle opened a probate case, submitted a will and said they were Gammon's wife and surviving spouse, according to court records. The will purported to transfer Gammon's home, vehicle and bank accounts. The will also listed Green-Battle's sister as a beneficiary.

Investigators also accused Green-Battle of submitting fraudulent documents to the Texas Funeral Service Commission in an attempt to gain a funeral director and embalming license. Among other things, the forged documents falsely claimed that Green-Battle served in the military, according a complaint.

Court documents dating back to 1998 list Green-Battle at different times as male and female. The Chronicle could not confirm Green-Battle's gender identity or pronouns. Harris County Jail records listed Green-Battle under the name Michael James Green as of Wednesday morning.

According to charging documents, the will was backdated to April 2023, two years before Gammon's death, and included an incorrect birth year. Green-Battle is accused of forging both Gammon's signature and a notary seal on the documents.

Green-Battle is also accused of using a falsified death certificate to access Gammon's financial accounts, open a new account and transfer around $2 million to it.

Investigators said they discovered that Green-Battle was impersonating another legitimate Houston funeral business. Gammon's family had initially communicated through telephone numbers and an email address using the name Wingate Funeral Home. But the owner of Wingate told police that Green-Battle had appropriated its contact information.

In November 2025, police searched A Community Funeral Home and found dozens of boxes of cremated remains, including Gammon's. They also found a bucket containing organs. In the complaint, police said some families that had hired Green-Battle had been waiting for two years to receive the remains of their loved ones.

Before their arrest, Green-Battle had a long history of legal troubles. Criminal court records dating back to 1998 show a history of arrests on suspicion of forgery, assault, theft and fraud. In civil court cases, Green-Battle has also been accused of forging signatures on affidavits, concealing assets in a bankruptcy case, giving false testimony and abusing the civil justice system.

In 2019, the former owner of the funeral home alleged that Green-Battle tried to take control of the deed for the property without paying. The dispute over ownership of the property was settled last year, according to court records.

A 2021 lawsuit in Harris County accused Green-Battle of deceiving a family who had paid for a full funeral and casket burial. The lawsuit accused Green-Battle of bringing a casket to a funeral in an unmarked van and lowering it into a grave with a tow chain while family members helped steady it. Months after the funeral, the family learned that the man they thought had been buried had actually been cremated. The lawsuit is still open but was delayed after Green-Battle filed for bankruptcy.

Documents included in the 2018 lawsuit also show that Green-Battle was investigated by the Harris County District Attorney's Office over accusations by Jorge Meade that Green-Battle forged the signature of a dead man and took over the deed to his property.

The investigative document noted that Green-Battle had "numerous" insurance fraud referrals that had not been investigated by the Texas Department of Insurance, as well as four convictions for forgery.

The Houston Police Department and Harris County Precinct 1 Constable's Office investigated Green-Battle over the latest complaints against them.

Green-Battle was arrested Tuesday. Bail wasn't immediately set. They were scheduled to appear before a district court judge Thursday.

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