Tri-Cities murder suspect was convinced his mom killed his child. But the girl is alive

David Joseph Lowe believed his mother and her boyfriend murdered his daughter so he broke into their Richland home to confront them.

His mother ended up dead and Andy Davis suffered serious stab wounds, according to court documents filed Friday.

And it wasn’t the first time Lowe mistakenly thought his 4-year-old was dead. Court records from 2019 show he posted photos on social media, “For my dead Daughter. RIP.”

Now, Washington state evaluators will determine if the 29-year-old former firefighter is mentally competent to face murder and attempted murder charges.

His mother Bethany Jean Lowe, 47, died about an hour after the attack and Davis, 45, her long-time partner, remains hospitalized.

Lowe appeared Monday in Benton County Superior Court after prosecutors charged him with premeditated first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection with last Wednesday’s attack on Cosmic Lane in Richland.

The murder and burglary charges both have domestic violence allegations. He continues to be held in the Benton County jail on $1 million bail.

Instead of entering a plea, defense attorney Michael Vander Sys asked that Lowe to be sent to Eastern State Hospital in Medical Lake for a mental health evaluation to determine if Lowe understands the charges and can help in his own defense.

Judge Norma Rodriguez agreed. The case will be on hold until the evaluation is finished, and a judge rules on his competency.

During David Lowe’s initial court hearing the day after the attack, he appeared at times confused and disoriented, saying he wasn’t sure what happened but started to apologize.

On Monday, family members were in the small courtroom while Lowe sat in the jury box in shackles. He alternated looking at who was in the room and holding his head.

Protection order

David Lowe has a history of breaking into the Cosmic Lane home even when his mother had a no-contact protection order against him.

He was charged with violating the order in 2018 and 2019. He pleaded guilty in District Court in May 2019 to both incidents.

He served about a month in jail and more than a year of probation. It’s unclear if the protection order was still active.

During his time on probation he completed an in-patient program at Lourdes, according to documents. It’s unclear whether that was a drug or mental health program.

During his first court hearing last week, Lowe told the judge he had just been released from another in-patient stay.

Break-in and stabbing

On July 27, when Bethany Lowe and Davis woke up to rustling noises in their house, they suspected it was her son, David, according to court records.

Bethany Lowe, a mother of eight, went to talk with him while Davis started getting ready for work.

Davis told investigators he didn’t hear the struggle in the kitchen when David Lowe confronted her, according to court records.

David Lowe told investigators during an interview in the Benton County jail that he broke in to find out if his daughter was still alive, according to court records.

As he talked with his mother he became convinced she had killed the girl.

Bethany Lowe called 911 the first time just before 5 a.m. and gave her address and hung up.

Three minutes later, she managed to tell dispatchers that her “son was out of control” and he had picked up a knife, before dropping the phone, according to dispatch reports recorded on Broadcastify.

Davis told police he was in the bedroom when he heard pounding on the door. When he opened it, David Lowe allegedly stabbed him in the chest.

Richland investigators said David Lowe believed he had killed his mother and went to the bedroom to attack Davis because he thought he also was involved in the plot.

Davis got the door shut but realized Bethany wasn’t with him. He found her on the hall floor with her son standing over her. He had a knife in each hand.

David Lowe later reportedly told police he’d taken the knifes from a kitchen block.

When officers arrived, they found Bethany Lowe and Davis with several stab wounds, a bloody knife on the floor and David Lowe with blood on his face, torso and legs. The couple’s two youngest children, ages 12 and 9, were home but were not wounded.