Husband faces murder charge on anniversary

Suspect accused in death of wife 1 year after their marriage.

A Gwinnett County husband was in court facing a murder charge in connection with his wife’s death Monday instead of celebrating their one-year anniversary.

Walter Lowe, 51, turned himself in to police over the weekend after Erica Powell, 46, was found bleeding from a gunshot wound, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported.

Powell was in the bedroom of the Medlock Park home she shared with two of her six children. Her 12-year-old found her last week.

Powell’s daughter, Keaundra Jackson, said she hopes her mother’s story gives other victims of alleged domestic violence hope to get away before it’s too late.

Lowe was an abusive and possessive man who only wanted to isolate Powell, Jackson told Channel 2 Action News.

She criticized the district attorney’s office in a prepared statement that said, “I called you all for help and no one listened when I told them that man was going to kill my mother.”

The family wanted to know why Lowe was previously let out of jail when he had faced domestic violence and drug abuse charges. According to court records, Lowe posted a $10,000 bond in August 2015 and was released from jail. As a special condition of that bond, he was not permitted to contact Powell, but Powell contacted the district attorney’s office and asked to have the charges against Lowe dismissed, Gwinnett County Chief Assistant Dis- trict Attorney Dan Mayfield said.

“We refused because we believed Mr. Lowe presented a threat of future violence,” Mayfield said. Despite the DA’s refusal, Powell later signed an affidavit to dismiss the charges and she also signed an affidavit seek- ing to remove the bond condition that Lowe could not have contact with her, Mayfield said.

“By consent, the Court issued an order to allow contact between Lowe and Pow

ell in accordance with Ms. Powell’s request,” Mayfield

said. The DA’s office continued to prosecute the case despite her wishes. At the time of Powell’s death, the DA’s office had no grounds to revoke Lowe’s bond, Mayfield said. Mayfield said prosecutors will proceed with the case against Lowe. “We’ll have our day in court,” Jackson said.