A 13-year-old boy died after being attacked and held underwater by two teens during a temporary foster placement at the home of McCormick County Council Chairman Bernie Hamby, according to authorities.
Daryl Martinez Lowry had recently been placed in Hamby's home while awaiting another foster placement, The Augusta Press reported. The two suspects, also foster children living at the residence, are accused of physically assaulting Lowry on July 20 before holding him underwater until he died. One of the teens, 17-year-old Landen Austin Moore, has been charged with murder, the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division (SLED) announced Tuesday. The other suspect, a 16-year-old, was taken to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice; no charges have been announced against this individual.
According to an arrest warrant from the McCormick County Sheriff's Office, the confrontation occurred at a private boat dock on Beauregard Drive in Modoc, South Carolina. The warrant alleges that Moore and the 16-year-old intentionally killed Lowry with malice aforethought after inflicting knife wounds upon him. Investigators based these allegations on witness statements and gathered evidence.
Hamby, who has reportedly advocated for foster care, was asleep inside the residence during the alleged attack and has not been accused of any wrongdoing, according to the report. Lowry's body was recovered from Clarks Hill Lake.
Earlier in June, Lowry was the subject of a missing child investigation in his hometown of Chester, South Carolina. The Chester Police Department had asked for public assistance in locating him after he was last seen on June 11, but he was found safe the same day. Authorities have not publicly connected this earlier disappearance to the circumstances of his death.
Relatives created a GoFundMe page for Lowry, describing him as "an amazing child full of life, love, and charisma." McCormick County Sheriff Chad Cox expressed condolences to the family and thanked the various agencies that assisted in the investigation, including SLED, the McCormick County Sheriff's Office, and the South Carolina Attorney General's Office, which will prosecute the case. SLED stated that its investigation remains active and ongoing.