Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor has announced the firing of veteran Tampa homicide detective Eric Houston following a federal investigation.

However, no details on the nature of the investigation have been released.  Houston attended the announcement with his attorney but made no comment.

State Attorney's Office spokesperson Mark Cox released this statement:

"We are working closely with the Tampa Police Department reviewing pending cases in which Eric Houston was involved in some capacity.  We will evaluate each case individually to determine whether Houston’s testimony is required in order to proceed with prosecution.  Because it is common practice in law enforcement to have more than one investigator work each aspect of a homicide or other violent crime investigation, in most cases another law enforcement officer will be able to testify instead of Officer Houston.  For cases in which Officer Houston is an essential witness, we will determine how to proceed on a case-by-case basis."

It comes after a court document was filed in the Julie Schenecker case.

That document called a notice of exculpatory information states "officer Eric Houston has been put on notice by the Tampa Police Department that he is the subject of an active federal investigation... but no additional information is available at this time."

The notice was filed in Schenecker case on April 10. A TPD spokeswoman said Houston, 53, was placed on administrative duty when the U.S. Attorney's Office notified the department on April 3.

Houston was one of the homicide detectives who worked on the Schenecker investigation back in 2011.

The New Tampa mom is accused of killing her teenage children because they were "mouthy." Schenecker's trial is scheduled to begin on Monday.

A TPD spokeswoman said Houston played a minor role in the Schenecker investigation and wasn't expected to testify anyway.

Bay News 9 looked through the 24-year veteran homicide detective's personnel file on Wednesday that was filled with glowing reviews and awards. There was nothing negative found in the file.

TPD Chief Jane Castor fired Houston's wife, La Joyce Houston, in 2013 for allegedly using an inmate's food stamp card. Houston was a 16-year veteran of the department.

La Joyce Houston has been charged with grand theft and two counts of food stamp fraud. Her case is still pending in Hillsborough District Court. La Joyce Houston's attorney, Lyann Goudie, said as far as she knows the federal investigation into Eric Houston has nothing to do with his wife's case.