A Texas fugitive with a long trail of violent criminal allegations is now jailed in Michigan, accused of murdering two men inside a Shelby Township car dealership after slipping away from his court-ordered GPS monitoring in Houston.
Investigators say 46-year-old Terrance Sandles had no legal business being anywhere outside Harris County. He was out on a $200,000 bond ($50k posted by bail agency) tied to aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and retaliation charges from a July shooting where he allegedly opened fire on two men moving furniture. But within days of being released, records show he ignored his 24-hour house arrest, violated nearly every part of his bond, and eventually removed his GPS ankle monitor entirely. The device was later found abandoned inside a Texas government building.
By late August, Sandles stopped showing up to court. A judge issued warrants for his arrest after he missed his August 29 hearing. That wasn’t his only case. He had also been charged in September with assault of a family member related to a March incident, but he was never taken into custody on that charge either. For months, he remained a wanted fugitive in Texas.
Authorities now believe Sandles fled more than a thousand miles north to Michigan as the pressure mounted. He was living in a hotel when he went to Star Auto Sales in Shelby Township, where he previously bought a vehicle. According to police, he was upset about the car, believed it was a lemon, and had ongoing disputes with the dealership. That confrontation exploded into gunfire.
Inside the dealership office, detectives found 40-year-old owner Marvan Batoo and 48-year-old customer Ghaith Baban dead from gunshot wounds. Both men were married and had children waiting for them at home.
Shelby Township Police Chief Robert Shelide said Sandles dropped the vehicle off after arguing with the dealership, left, then returned armed. After identifying him as the suspect, officers tracked Sandles to a local hotel and arrested him without incident.
Michigan prosecutors have now filed more than a dozen felony charges, including two counts of first-degree murder. Sandles is being held without bond in Macomb County. Prosecutor Peter Lucido said Texas will have to wait until Michigan fully resolves its case before they can attempt to bring him back.
Given the severity of the Michigan charges, authorities believe Sandles may serve the rest of his life in a Michigan prison and never return to Texas to face his outstanding cases.
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📂 CRIMINAL HISTORY: DECADES OF VIOLENCE
Court records from Harris County show a long and consistent pattern of violent behavior by Sandles dating back nearly 30 years.
1996–1997
• Burglary of Habitation (F)
• Case disposed in 1997.
2002
• Assault – Family Member (M)
• Case disposed in 2002.
2002–2003
• Assault – Bodily Injury to a Family Member (F)
• Dismissed in 2003.
2005–2006
• Aggravated Robbery – Deadly Weapon (F)
• Case disposed in 2007.
2020
• Assault – Bodily Injury (M) and two Assault Family/Household Member with Previous Conviction (F) cases
• All dismissed in 2021 and 2022.
2022
• Assault Family/Household Member with Previous Conviction (F)
• Dismissed in May 2023.
Despite the repeated charges — many involving violence against family members — several cases were dismissed, and Sandles continued to receive bond opportunities even as the pattern escalated.
By 2025, he was again free on bond when he allegedly removed his ankle monitor, fled Texas, and killed two men in Michigan.