A caregiver in Texas is accused of killing a 37-year-old disabled man in 2020 after stealing his settlement money.
Texas Caregiver Accused of Killing Disabled Man, Stealing Settlement Money
In a June 3 press release, the Chambers County Sheriff's Office said the investigation started in October 2020 when police responded to Dutton Lake in Texas after a body was found.
KHOU previously reported that the body was floating in the water "for an extended period of time" and seemed to have been dumped there.
The sheriff's office said Daniel Howey, who had intellectual and developmental disabilities that required the use of a wheelchair, was reported missing around that time, and police determined they had found him.
Nearly four years after Howey was found dead at the lake, the sheriff's office said Howey's former caregiver, Carroll Richardson, was identified as the suspect.
The sheriff's office noted that Richardson, who cared for Howey at the Caring Hands Group Home in Harris County, Texas, depleted Howey's large settlement through numerous transactions, including huge sums of money "directed to himself, his associates, and his business."
Howey reportedly received a large settlement from a personal injury case in May 2020.
Witness to the Murder
According to investigators, Daniel Howey confronted Carroll Richardson about stealing his money and threatened to report him. A witness told deputies that Howey was taken to neighboring Chambers County and killed.
Police said Richardson and an alleged accomplice, Shaun Sandles, are both facing murder charges. Deputies arrested Richardson on June 3 while he was in a Harris County court for an unrelated hearing. After his arrest, he was booked into the Chambers County Jail.
According to the sheriff's office, Sandles is currently in custody of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice on unrelated charges out of Harris County.
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