CHAMBERS COUNTY, Texas (KTRK) — A renewed investigation by the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office has led to the resolution of a 2020 murder case involving a man found dead in Dutton Lake. This week, two men have been charged with the murder of Daniel Howey.
Howey, a 37-year-old man who used a wheelchair and had intellectual and developmental disabilities, was found dead in Chambers County on October 13, 2020. Investigators believe his death was related to financial motives.
“Mr. Howey was basically discarded like a bag of trash,” said Lt. Tanner Dickens of the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations division. Howey had been under the care of a group home, where Michael Richardson was responsible for him.
The Harris County group home had previously been reported for poor conditions and alleged questionable care. Detectives revealed that Howey had received a $1.2 million settlement in a personal injury case five months before his death. A subsequent investigation into Howey’s finances uncovered significant missing funds.
“The detectives started doing a dive into Mr. Howey’s finances and looking into his bank accounts. When they took that dive, they found that a substantial amount of money was going missing,” Dickens explained.
Eyewitnesses reported that Howey had threatened to report Richardson for stealing his settlement money. Law enforcement has now charged a second man, Shaun Sandles, as Richardson’s accomplice in Howey’s murder. Sandles is currently serving a prison sentence for an unrelated conviction involving injury to a disabled person.
“I don’t know the extent of his involvement in the finances, but I believe he was an acquaintance of Mr. Richardson,” Dickens said.
In addition to the murder charge, Richardson faces multiple legal issues in Harris County related to his role at the group home. He currently has eight open court cases, including allegations of injury to a disabled person, aggravated assault, exploitation, and theft.
