Tri-Cities man accused of stabbing mother to death had a history of breaking into her home
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David Joseph Lowe murder investigation
David Joseph Lowe is accused of breaking into his mother’s home, stabbing her to death and seriously injuring her longtime boyfriend.
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Court records show the Tri-Cities man accused of stabbing his mother to death this week has a troubling history that includes previous break-ins at her Richland mobile home.
David Joseph Lowe, 29, is being held in Benton County jail in lieu of $1 million bail on suspicion of murder, assault and burglary. It’s been less than a year since he completed probation for the last time he broke into his mom’s home.
Prior criminal issues
Records searches show David Lowe has a history of arrests for drugs, break-ins and other issues, including several no contact protection orders from his mother and an ex-girlfriend he shares a child with.
He also has several drug-related crimes in Washington, as well as a reckless driving charge in Oregon in 2019 and an obstruction of justice/resisting arrest charge for attempting to flee.
In a three-month period starting in November 2018, David Lowe was arrested several times.
One arrest was on drug charges and two were related to break-ins. He was charged with several crimes and pleaded guilty in May 2019 to two counts each of violating a court order and destroying property. Other charges, including trespassing and simple assault were dismissed.
Protection orders
At least two no contact orders were on file against David Lowe. An ex-girlfriend filed for one in March 2019. The other was put in place by the court protecting his mother after David Lowe broke into her home.
In the petition, his ex-girlfriend said she was filing for the protection order because she was concerned about his state of mind after a series of letters written to her, and also addressed to their then 8-month-old daughter, saying he was “coming for (the child) with everything he has.”
In one social media post, he had written “for my dead daughter. RIP.”
The ex-girlfriend said she had reason to believe he may have left rehab early and that no one was sure of his location.
She said she was living in fear that Lowe would hurt her or her daughter. She told the court she believed that he was not only a danger to her, their child and himself, but also to the public.
An emergency order was put into place by the judge, but the request was withdrawn in October 2019.
In her 2019 filing, his ex also mentioned his mother had a protection order against him because he had broken into her house before.
Richland home break-ins
Documents obtained by the Herald related to that case show David Lowe had a history of breaking into her home, and that there was a pretrial order barring him from being within 500 feet of his mom or her home that he violated numerous times. The order was issued after a November 2018 break-in.
In one case, a woman called to report she believed David Lowe had violated a no contact order based on photos he had posted on social media showing him at his mother’s home in December 2018.
David Lowe’s sister was then contacted, and she told police she believed he had broken into the mobile home at 54 Cosmic Lane.
She said the door had been left unlocked and when she returned it appeared someone had come into the home, made food and used a computer. His social media page was open, and there was a search for how to make explosives.
Around the same time police were taking his sister’s statement, they say David Lowe showed up at the Richland Police Department station claiming his mother was trying to contact him.
He told police she had violated the order and was trying to take him to treatment. They informed him she was the protected party and questioned him about the break-in.
David Lowe first told investigators he was sleeping in his vehicle down the street and thought the no contact order was 50 feet, not 500. They offered him help finding shelter, but he declined.
He later admitted to investigators that he waited for his sister to leave and then entered the home. He said he got some food, took a shower and used the computer because he was homeless and had no other options. He told police he was interested in chemistry, but did not plan to make a bomb.
Meth use
He admitted to having recently used methamphetamine, and told investigators he used it to stay awake because he was afraid of someone doing something to him in his sleep.
At the end of January 2019 he broke into the home again, this time breaking a window to get in. That same day he was also accused of breaking into a home on Log Lane and assaulting a former roommate. The assault charge was later dismissed.
Court documents show that he appears to have taken a plea deal in May 2019 for the break-ins and court order violations. He served about a month in jail and was on probation through November 2021.
At some point while on probation he also provided documents showing he had completed in-patient treatment at Lourdes Health. The documents were filed in March 2020 but do not say what type of in-patient treatment he received.
Attack and 911 call
Richland police say he broke into his mother’s home on Cosmic Lane in Richland shortly before 5 a.m. Wednesday.
Bethany Jean Lowe, 47, and her longtime boyfriend Andy Davis, 45, were woken up to the sound of someone in the living room. Their 9- and 12-year-old children also were home at the time.
Davis told detectives that Bethany assumed it was David Lowe and went to talk to him, while Davis got in the shower to get ready for work.
While he was in the shower, Bethany Lowe, called 911, telling the dispatcher her address before the line was disconnected. She called back three minutes later.
The 47-year-old mother of 8 managed to tell 911 dispatchers that her “son was out of control.”
Then dispatchers said they heard a woman screaming.
Davis said he heard banging on the bedroom door and opened it. That’s when David Lowe stabbed him the first time. He slammed the door shut, but realized his spouse wasn’t in the room and went back out to confront David Lowe. He saw Bethany on the ground with her son standing nearby with a knife in each hand.
Richland police arrived to find Bethany and Davis had been stabbed, and David Lowe standing nearby covered in blood with a knife in his hand.
Bethany and Davis were rushed to the hospital, but she did not survive. Davis was in serious condition with multiple stab wounds.
On Thursday, David Lowe made his first appearance in court. He appeared at times disoriented. Judge Joseph Burrowes set bail at $1 million. Prosecutors have until Monday to file formal charges. He’s facing three first-degree felonies with domestic violence enhancers — murder, assault and burglary.
GofundMe
A GoFundMe account was created to help the family with medical expenses and other costs.
Davis has undergone two surgeries at Kadlec in Richland to repair numerous stab wounds to his neck and torso, according to a GoFundMe account.
A family member posted online that he was in the intensive care unit as of Wednesday afternoon, but was awake and able to communicate.
Proceeds from the GoFundMe account are planned to be used for Lowe’s funeral, Davis’ medical expenses and counseling and the future needs of Lowe’s children.
This story was originally published July 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
