Disabled man confronts caregiver over missing money, then is found dead, TX cops say

Nearly four years after a man with disabilities was found dead at a Texas lake, his former caregiver is accused of killing him, officials say.

The investigation began in October 2020 when deputies with the Chambers County Sheriff’s Office responded to Lake Dutton, near Houston, after a body was discovered, the sheriff’s office said in a June 3 news release.

At first, deputies didn’t know who the man was or how he died, but said he had been floating in the water “for an extended period of time” and appeared to have been dumped there, KHOU reported in 2020.

A 37-year-old man, Daniel Howey, was reported missing around that time and deputies determined they’d found him, according to the sheriff’s office.

Howey had intellectual disabilities, required the use of a wheelchair, and lived in a group home in Harris County under the care of a man named Carroll Richardson, investigators said.

In May 2020, just months before his death, Howey won a “large settlement” in a personal injury case, deputies later learned. How much that settlement was worth, officials didn’t say, but it quickly disappeared while Richardson cared for Howey.

“Information found during the investigation revealed that Richardson systematically depleted Howey’s large settlement through various transactions, including large sums of money directed to himself, his associates, and his business,” the sheriff’s office said.

But Howey wasn’t blind to this. At some point, he confronted Richardson about the missing funds and threatened to report him, according to investigators.

An eyewitness told deputies Howey was taken to neighboring Chambers County and killed.

Richardson and an alleged accomplice, Shaun Sandles, are both facing a charge of murder, officials say.

Richardson was booked into the Chambers County jail on June 3, records show.

Dutton Lake is a roughly 40-mile drive east of downtown Houston.

This story was originally published June 4, 2024 at 7:35 AM with the headline "Disabled man confronts caregiver over missing money, then is found dead, TX cops say."