Police reports obtained by the Tri-City Herald show officers tried to get help for a Tri-Cities man shortly before he attacked and killed his mother last month.
The newly released documents show West Richland police officers and medics attempted to take David Joseph Lowe to a local hospital for help because of his erratic behavior.
They believed the 29-year-old former firefighter was suffering from a mental health crisis or under the influence of drugs, just hours before he is accused of stabbing his mom to death and seriously wounding her boyfriend in their Richland home.
He ran away from the hospital, showing up less than six hours later at their house three miles away.
Bizarre behavior
About 11:30 p.m. on July 26, clerks at a Circle K gas station on the 3900 block of West Van Giesen Street called police, asking them to check on a man acting erratically.
Dispatchers told the two West Richland officers that the man, identified as David Lowe, claimed he had been drugged, but was unsure what he had been given, according to the reports.
Officers checked Lowe's name for warrants while en route to the convenience store, but found none.
When they arrived, Lowe was walking in circles, opening and closing his mouth and flailing his arms. They believed he was either on some type of intoxicant or in the midst of a mental health crisis.
Store employees told the officers he had been in the store for about 15 minutes, and they had given him a fountain drink. Then Lowe asked to use their phone to call for help.
Store employees did not ask officers to ban him immediately from the property because while his behavior was erratic, he had not committed a crime.
Medics from Benton County Fire District 4 responded to the store and tried to get Lowe into an ambulance to be medically checked.
One officer said they attempted to coax him into cooperating but Lowe began complaining about a problem with his groin and showed the officer his genitalia.
Lowe continued walking in a circle and acting bizarrely, before finally lying on the ground. At that point, medics were able to get a soft stretcher under him, and with the help of the officers loaded him into the ambulance, said the reports.
Officers said Lowe told them he wanted to go to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland, Wash.
About an hour after he was taken to Kadlec, an officer who had retrieved Lowe's EBT card and a T-shirt from the gas station got a call from the medics asking him to hold onto the items for safekeeping.
They said Lowe had run off.
A few hours later, Lowe is accused of fatally stabbing his mother, Bethany J. Lowe, 47, in her living room and seriously injuring her boyfriend Andy Davis, 45.
Break-in and stabbing
Just before 5 a.m. on July 27, Bethany Lowe and Davis awoke to the sounds of commotion. She believed it was likely her son, and told Davis she would go talk to him, according to court documents.
David Lowe had a history of breaking into his mother's Cosmic Lane home, and she had a no-contact order against him.
Davis got ready for work while his longtime partner went to talk to her son. Soon after, Bethany Lowe called 911 twice, telling dispatchers her son was out of control.
After getting out of the shower Davis heard someone banging on the bedroom door. When he opened it, David Lowe stabbed him. Davis told police he slammed the door shut, but realized Bethany Lowe wasn't in the room.
He opened the door again and saw her lying on the floor covered in blood, with her son standing over her with a knife in each hand.
Davis said he fought with David Lowe but couldn't remember anything after that.
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, also were home but were not hurt.
Davis underwent surgery and survived the attack, but Bethany Lowe did not.
Later, David Lowe told investigators he attacked his mother and Davis because he believed his 4-year-old daughter was dead, and they had something to do with it.
Prosecutors have charged David Lowe with premeditated first-degree murder, attempted first-degree murder and first-degree burglary in connection with the attack.
The murder and burglary charges both have domestic violence allegations. His bail is set at $1 million.
But his criminal case is on hold pending a psychological evaluation by officials with Eastern State Hospital. Once the evaluation is complete, a judge will determine if Lowe is competent to stand trial.
