Law & Crime
A lawyer in Texas who was at a lake house with his adult son last weekend allegedly mistook him for an intruder — fatally shooting him with a shotgun and then cremating his body on a “wood” and “trash” pile — in what he’s calling a “horrible accident,” according to cops.
Michael C. Howard, 68, of Houston, was at a lake house several hours outside of the city, near the Toledo Bend Reservoir, with his son Mark Howard on Sunday when the killing “accidentally” occurred, according to a Sabine County Sheriff’s Office press release, which was posted on Facebook by the local Sabine County Reporter newspaper.
Mark Howard, who has Down syndrome, was somewhere on the property on Sunday night when his father allegedly mistook him for an intruder.
“On December 2, 2024, a Deputy from the Sabine County Sheriff’s Office was contacted via public service by Michael C Howard,” the sheriff’s office said in its release. “Howard advised [to police] that he had ‘accidentally’ shot his own son.”
Michael Howard went on to confess that after the shooting, he took his son’s body and “placed it in the front-loading bucket of a backhoe tractor and carried it to a remote area on his property.”
It was there where the cremation happened, according to police.
“[Michael Howard] placed the body on a wood/trash pile, which had been previously set up and then ‘cremated’ his son,” the sheriff’s office said, noting how deputies who responded were told by Howard that his son’s death was a “horrible accident.” Mark Howard’s remains were found upon the execution of a search warrant.
“All bones appeared to have been burned based on charring and the area they were found in, was heavy with soot and ash,” the sheriff’s office said.
Michael Howard was arrested and charged with murder and tampering with evidence.
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