The family of a 13-year-old wants to know how he was placed into a foster home where two other foster kids ended up being accused of murdering him.
Attorney Tyler Bailey announced on Friday that the family of 13-year-old Daryl Lowry retained his firm to conduct an independent investigation.
Body Recovered
Lowry’s body was found last week at Modoc Shores in McCormick County. Deputies arrested Landen Austin Moore, 17, and a 16-year-old who has not been identified.
According to an affidavit, the three teenagers got into a “physical altercation” at the boat dock. At one point, Lowry “suffered lacerations from a knife.”
During the fight, Moore and another teen allegedly grabbed Lowry and held him underwater until he drowned. The warrant states Moore acted with “malice aforethought.”
Investigators have not determined what started the fight.
His family told WSOC-TV they haven’t gotten enough information from officials about what led up to the crime.
Foster Home
The three boys were reportedly staying at McCormick County Council Chairman Bernie Hamby’s home. He was their foster dad. He told investigators he was asleep when the fight happened.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Hamby for a comment but has not heard back.
Lowry’s family has not specified why he was in foster care. He had also recently moved into Hamby’s home before he died.
“The circumstances that got him there don’t matter,” one family member said. “What matters is they were unsupervised. He was murdered, and we don’t have answers.”
Bailey posted on Facebook, bringing up three questions regarding Lowry’s foster care placement: How was it made, what was known about the home and the other children living there, and who was responsible for watching Daryl the night of his death?
According to South Carolina law, the home environment must have adequate bedroom space, individual beds for children, and secured pools or pets.
The state recently joined the federal program “A Home for Every Child,” which aims to reduce paperwork for caseworkers. This would increase the availability of local foster homes, but it’s unclear if the same thorough inspections take place.
Foster homes also must have health, fire and sanitation inspections.
“When the state removes a child from his family and takes him into its care, it accepts a duty to keep that child alive,” Bailey said. “We intend to find out whether that duty was met.”
Marianna Tolbert told WSOC-TV her son and Lowry were close friends.
“It was absolutely devastating to hear something like that could happen to him,” she said. “I feel like children tend to get lost in foster care, and I don’t understand why he was so far away, and we need to figure out a way as a community to make sure they’re OK.”
Bailey said Lowry’s family is in the process of planning his funeral.
Atlanta Black Star reached out to Bailey and the family for comment but hasn’t heard back.
