Fired HPD detective's murder cases remain in limbo

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- The bulk of the murder cases tied to a fired Houston Police officer remain unsolved.

"He was lazy. He was a liar."

It's been 10 months since HPD Chief Charles McClelland made that stunning declaration about now former Homicide Sgt. Ryan Chandler and little has changed with the status of his problematic cases.

Eight remain unsolved. Three have essentially gone inactive.

Eyewitness News obtained a status update of the death cases -- mostly homicides -- that were tied to Chandler. The veteran police officer lost an appeal to get his job back earlier this month. He was fired after being accused of shoddy police work.

"You do what you have to do. We're the only ones who can speak for the victims. If we don't, nobody else will," said retired Houston Police Officer Sam Kennedy. Kennedy worked in the Homicide Division for six years.

Kennedy says time is of the essence when it comes to murder investigations.

Of the 23 cases with issues, six have been cleared with arrests, three suspects are dead and another six are not quite cold, categorized as still "open pending new information." There are a couple other classifications and only two are at a point where they can still be actively investigated.

The question is have detectives on the botched cases missed their window?

"It may be that one lead that's going to break the case for you and if you don't take the time to find that one lead, you may never have justice for the family," added Kennedy.

HPD contacted all the families of victims related to the cases in question to reassure them they would still be worked if possible.