Texas Man Allegedly Set House On Fire To Cover Up Mother-In-Law’s Murder; Charged

KEY POINTS

The man allegedly set the house on fire, and fled the scene
He then returned to rescue his daughters
The suspect has been arrested and charged with murder

A 34-year-old Texas man, who was previously hailed a hero for rescuing his children during a fire in their home, has now been accused of setting the property ablaze to cover up the murder of his mother-in-law.

Xavier Howard has been accused of strangling 53-year-old Tammy Mouton on Jan. 8, and then setting the house on fire to hide her death. He has been arrested and charged with murder.

First responders responded to a house fire report on Trementina Drive near Gavin Place Lane around 5 a.m. on Jan. 8. The fire crew found the family outside, injured from the fire, and Mouton dead inside the house, KTRK reported.

"My niece called my daughter and said her house was on fire. She was on the way to the hospital with her little girl," Mouton’s sister, Lolita Wilson, told KHOU11. "When I got here, the fire chief said my sister didn’t make it."

Later, the Harris County Sheriff’s office said in a statement Mouton's injuries were not consistent with "a house fire."

Over two weeks after the fire, Sheriff Ed Gonzalez said Tuesday that Howard "intentionally set fire to his residence to conceal Mouton's death." He then left the scene, and returned a few minutes later to help his neighbors rescue his two daughters, aged 8 and 10.

Arrest update: HCSO Homicide Investigators have charged Xavier Jawin Howard (34) with murder in the strangulation death of Tammy Mouton (53). The investigation revealed that Howard intentionally set fire to his residence to conceal Mouton’s death. He initially fled the (1/2) https://t.co/Y5h1uO94dj
— Ed Gonzalez (@SheriffEd_HCSO) January 25, 2022

During the incident, Howard and his two children were taken to a hospital as they became unresponsive due to smoke inhalation. Howard suffered from cuts on his body while trying to save his daughters.

Fire officials were able to contain the fire to Mouton’s bedroom, the front room in the house. They found no working smoke detector inside the house. Authorities were still investigating the origin and cause of the fire.

Gonzales said in the tweet that Mouton had recently moved into Howard's house.

"She didn’t live here. She was being a grandma," Mouton's daughter, Britanny, said to KHOU11 at the time of her mother's death. "Stayed the night to take the kids to school, being a grandma ... doing her part."

Howard has been booked into the Harris County jail, Gonzales said.