CHESTER, S.C. — A community gathered at the Chester County Courthouse on Saturday to remember a 13-year-old who was stabbed and drowned while in state custody.
Daryl Lowry was in foster care more than 100 miles away from home when he was murdered.
Family members say they haven’t gotten enough information from officials about what led up to the crime.
They used the gathering to push for transparency.
Family and friends of Lowry held signs Saturday night, calling for answers about what happened to their loved one. They want to know how two teens were able to murder him while he was in the care of the state.
“The circumstances that got him there don’t matter,” one loved one said. “What matters is they were unsupervised. He was murdered and we don’t have answers.”
[ PREVIOUS COVERAGE: Teen in foster care dies after being stabbed, held underwater ]
Lowry is from Chester, but was in foster care in McCormick County, South Carolina near Strom Thurmond Lake. State police say on Monday, two older teenagers got into a fight with Lowry, then stabbed and drowned him.
“What we want is accountability, transparency, and a proper investigation,” said loved ones.
At the same time, so many in the community are working through this loss. Marianna Torbert says Lowry and her son were close friends.
“It was absolutely devasting to hear something like that could happen to him,” Torbert said.
She says the tragedy took the life of a child with so much life, and she has questions.
“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 okay,” said Torbert.
For now, she’s helping her son cope by remembering good times with his close friend.
“Whatever he needs to do to get him towards healing, I’m behind it,” Torbert said.
An attorney for the family has said he plans to release more information to the public about the case on Monday.