Houston attorney waited 17 hours after allegedly murdering, 'cremating' son to call authorities

SABINE COUNTY, Texas - New details have been revealed in the murder and tampering with evidence charge against Houston attorney Michael C. Howard in the death of his own son.

Sabine County Sheriffs along with District Attorney Paul A. Robbins held a press conference on Thursday to go into more details about the incident.

According to JP MacDonough, an investigator with the Sabine County Sheriffs Department, the Sabine County Sheriff's Office received a call around 2 p.m. on Dec. 2 from Michael Howard, who told deputies he accidentally shot his youngest son, Mark Howard, who he mistook for an intruder.

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Mark Howard was a high functioning down syndrome adult who had a job, officials say.

Investigator Macdonough reports that when deputies arrived, they noticed Mark Howard was missing. Michael told officials the "horrible accident" shooting happened on Dec. 1, and he placed Mark's body on the front-loading bucket of a backhoe tractor, and carried it to a remote area a mile away where a wood pile with other materials had already been set up.

The attorney told deputies he "cremated" his son, as that is "what he would've wanted", JP MacDonough said.

Sabine County deputies and Texas Rangers conducted a search warrant and found charred body parts and bones. The body parts were taken to the Medical Examiner's Office.

Michael C. Howard

 Micheal Howard waited 17 hours after the "cremation" before he called the sheriff's office, according to officials.

DA Robbins said the county aims to bring an indictment before a grand jury. They are looking to field multiple other charges.

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Howard's bond was set at $10 million for each charge.

The case remains under investigation by the Sabine County Sheriff's Office.