Attorney Michael Howard (Sabine County Sheriff’s Office/KHOU/YouTube)
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.”
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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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According to the State Bar of Texas website, the Houston-based attorney has a private law practice in the Heights neighborhood and he specializes in “ethics-legal malpractice, family, litigation: personal injury, oil, gas and energy resources” and real estate.
Records show that in 1995, the Board of Disciplinary Appeals suspended Michael Howard after he pleaded no contest to third-degree felony theft in Harris County. He was given deferred adjudication and placed on one year of probation, with his suspension lasting the length of his probation, according to board officials.
Michael Howard currently remains in custody on a $20 million bond.
