Columbus man convicted of murdering ex, leaving baby alone before reporting a 'suicide'
A Columbus man has been convicted of fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend in the head at her North Linden home and leaving their baby alone for over an hour before telling police she killed herself.
Heather Chapman, 33, was in the process of leaving Dallas Lowery when he came to her home to retrieve personal items and killed her on the evening of Feb. 22, 2022, according to Chapman's family and Franklin County prosecutors.
A Franklin County Common Pleas Court jury on Monday found Lowery, 33, guilty of murder, domestic violence and tampering with evidence. The jury found Lowery not guilty of aggravated murder, meaning they could not say with certainty the murder was planned in advance.
Judge Jeffrey Brown found Lowery guilty of possessing a gun illegally because Lowery has a 2016 conviction for robbery.
According to evidence and testimony at Lowery's trial last week, he left their 2-month-old daughter alone at the home for more than an hour after the shooting while he went to a hotel room to shower and change his clothes. He then went back and called 911.
"If this was just a suicide, why did he wait over an hour to call 911?" Franklin County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Dan Meyer told the jury last week during closing arguments.
Terry Parrish, Lowery's codefendant in the case, testified Lowery called Chapman several times the day prior to the shooting and threatened to shoot Chapman in the face.
"He's a man of his word. He shot her in the face," Meyer said.
Parrish, 29, is facing up to three years in prison after pleading guilty to tampering with evidence in a deal with prosecuting attorneys. The murder weapon was found months after the shooting in Parrish's car.
Lowery is scheduled to be sentenced on April 25. He faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison. Judge Brown will decide when Lowery first becomes eligible for parole after at least 18 years.
Jeremy Dodgion, Lowery's attorney, told The Dispatch that this was a disappointing verdict and that Lowery looks forward to appealing his case.
During the trial, Dodgion implied this was a suicide or an accident, and that Chapman grabbed the gun and pointed it at her own head.
"We cannot bring Heather Chapman back. Finding someone to place blame on is not justice for what was likely an accident," Dodgion told the jury at trial.
Chapman's mother, Dawn Chapman, told The Dispatch that Lowery won't receive enough prison time for what he did. She said she's glad for the guilty verdicts, but disappointed the jury did not convict on aggravated murder, which would have made Lowery eligible for a possible sentence of life in prison without the opportunity for parole.
"Heather was a good girl," Chapman said. "She was a giver, a fixer. She was always happy … She didn't deserve to die. He had no right."
jlaird@dispatch.com
@LairdWrites
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus man convicted of killing ex-girlfriend, reporting 'suicide'
