Daryl Lowry was only 13-years-old when authorities say a temporary foster placement in South Carolina ended with him suffering knife wounds and being held underwater at a residential boat dock. According to the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division, investigators charged 17-year-old Landen Austin Moore with murder following the July 20 death. A second teenager, who is 16, was taken to the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice.
According to the official arrest warrant and probable cause affidavit, Daryl Lowry, Moore, and the unidentified 16 year old became involved in a physical altercation at a boat dock in Modoc. The document alleges that Daryl suffered lacerations from a knife before Moore and the other teenager “unlawfully, intentionally, and with malice aforethought” held him underwater until he died. The affidavit states that investigators based the allegation on statements and evidence collected during the investigation.
Moore was arrested and booked into the McCormick County Detention Center on July 20. SLED has not publicly disclosed what charge, if any, the 16-year-old faces. SLED said its investigation remains active and that the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office will prosecute the case. Moore faces an accusation at this stage, and the murder charge has not resulted in a conviction.
According to WRDW, McCormick County deputies responded to the Modoc Shores dock at approximately 7 a.m. and discovered Daryl Lowry’s body. The McCormick County Magistrate’s Office denied Moore bond, leaving a higher court judge to consider bond later. The outlet also reported that McCormick County Sheriff Chad Cox requested that SLED lead the investigation after citing a conflict connected to the parties involved. The sheriff did not publicly explain the specific nature of that conflict.
The criminal investigation is now unfolding alongside a separate inquiry commissioned by Daryl’s family. According to WRDW, attorney Tyler Bailey said the family wants to know how the emergency placement was approved, what officials knew about the home and the other children living there, and who was responsible for supervising Daryl overnight. Bailey said his investigation will remain separate from SLED’s criminal case.
“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 in the statement provided to the media. “We intend to find out whether that duty was met.”
That question places the Daryl Lowry case beyond the disturbing allegations described in the warrant. This is also a child welfare accountability story. According to the South Carolina Department of Social Services, children in the agency’s legal custody may be placed in licensed foster homes or group care facilities selected to meet their needs. Bailey’s inquiry is seeking records and answers about how those responsibilities were handled in the days before Daryl died.
The home belonged to Bernie Hamby, who is listed by the South Carolina Association of Counties as chairman of the McCormick County Council. According to WRDW, Hamby confirmed that Daryl was temporarily staying at his Modoc Shores home and announced that he had asked South Carolina officials to revoke his foster care license. “My heart is shattered over what was done to Daryl,” Hamby said in a statement released on July 24.
Hamby told WRDW that Daryl and the 16-year-old arrived at his home on the Friday before the killing as part of what he described as an emergency foster arrangement. Hamby said the two boys were expected to leave that Monday. He also said he had fostered boys for 13 years and remembered seeing happiness and potential in Daryl during the brief period the child spent at the home. Those statements represent Hamby’s account, while the family’s attorney continues examining the placement and supervision decisions independently.
Just over a month before his death, Daryl Lowry had been reported missing in Chester County. According to an update from the Chester Police Department, the department later confirmed that he had been located safely and returned home. Authorities have not publicly established a connection between that missing person case, his later foster placement, and the events at the dock.
According to an obituary published by Chris King Memorial Chapel, Daryl Martinez Lowry was born on November 18, 2012, in Charlotte, North Carolina, to Laterrica Lowry and Antonio Crosby. The funeral home said his family began receiving friends in Chester, South Carolina, on July 24 while funeral arrangements were still being completed. The obituary identifies July 20 as the day Daryl died in McCormick, South Carolina.
As Daryl Lowry’s loved ones prepare to bury a child, the unanswered questions remain painfully direct. Who approved this placement? What assessments were completed before three teenagers were placed together? What supervision plan existed overnight? And what actions, if any, could have prevented Daryl from reaching that dock?
According to SLED, the homicide investigation remains open, meaning additional evidence, charges, or official findings could still emerge. Bailey has said the family’s investigation will focus on a different but equally critical issue: whether the systems responsible for protecting Daryl Lowry fulfilled their duty before it was too late.
