Inset: Daryl Martinez Lowry (Facebook). Background: A boat dock off Beauregard Dr. in Modoc, S.C. (Google Maps).
A South Carolina teenager who had just been placed in a foster home was allegedly killed by two other boys living in the house.
The body of 13-year-old Daryl Martinez Lowry was discovered Monday in a lake near a residential dock in Modoc, South Carolina, hours after police said he had a fight with 17-year-old Landon Austin Moore and an unnamed 16-year-old boy. According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED), Moore and the other boy were charged with murder and are both in custody. A warrant reviewed by Law&Crime stated that Moore and the other boy allegedly stabbed Lowry before they dragged him to a lake and held his head underwater.
According to local news outlet The August Press, Moore and the other boy were both foster children who were staying at the home of McCormick County Council Chairman Bernie Hamby. Lowry had reportedly been placed at the home recently as a temporary foster child while awaiting a more permanent living situation.
Hamby was reportedly asleep at home during Monday's early morning hours when Moore and the other boy allegedly attacked Lowry. A motive for the alleged fight was not provided. Hamby is not suspected of any wrongdoing in connection with Lowry's death.
The warrant provided by SLED stated that Moore and the other boy had a "physical altercation" at the boat dock that continued to escalate. At some point, Lowry "suffer[ed] lacerations from a knife." The alleged fight culminated in the older teens "holding [Lowry] underwater until he became deceased."
SLED said Moore was being held at the McCormick County Detention Center. The 16-year-old was in custody at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. A court date for Moore was not made available.