Murder charges against a Laurinburg man arrested last year for killing his ex-girlfriend and her boyfriend were dismissed this week, according to Sheriff Shep Jones.
On June 19, 2012 Jennifer Megan Easterling, 25, and Larry Wayne Goodwin, 18, were found shot to death inside Easterling’s Tarboro Street home. Goodwin was pronounced dead at the scene, while Easterling was transferred to Carolinas Medical Center in Charlotte where she died on June 21.
In July, Terry Lowery, Easterling’s former boyfriend, was arrested for the killings and charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of kidnapping, one count of possession of a handgun by a convicted felon, one count of burglary, and one count of discharging a firearm in the city.
Authorities said that the shooting was precipitated by the breakup of Lowery’s long-standing relationship with Easterling.
Crystal Perkins, Goodwin’s sister, said that she was informed by the District Attorney earlier this week that the charges had been dropped.
“Me and my mother were called Tuesday to go to a meeting with Kristy Newton and she advised us then that she was dismissing all charges against Terry Lowery because they feel that there is another suspect who was just as capable of committing the crime as he was,” Perkins said.
On Thursday, Sheriff Jones confirmed that the murder charges against Lowery had been dropped, but Lowery is still imprisoned under a $21,000 bond on charges of credit card fraud. Lowery has been in the Scotland County Detention Center for the nine months.
Jones referred questions about the case to the District Attorney, but an official answering the telephone late Thursday at the DA’s office said that she unable to access the case. The DA’s office was closed Friday for the Easter holiday.
“They led me to believe that Terry Lowery was the murderer,” said Perkins. “As of right now I’m completely shocked and I just don’t know what to think. Its been almost a year and we’re starting all over again.”
Perkins asked those with information about the killings to speak to investigators.
“If you know anything, have seen anything, or heard anything, regardless of whether you think its true or not, come forward with it,” she said. “That’s what you would want someone to do if one of your loved ones was murdered.”
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