A South Carolina man was found guilty Friday of killing a Bennettsville woman and her 8-year-old daughter in 2017, according to the 4th Circuit Solicitor’s Office.
Jejauncey Harrington was found guilty on all counts by Judge Michael Nettles in a bench trial, meaning there was no jury.
Nettles sentenced Harrington to life in prison for the murder charges, and 30 years on the kidnapping and armed robbery charges. All sentences will run concurrent.
Harrington’s attorney and prosecutors reached a deal in early February to remove the death penalty as an option in return for Harrington waiving his right to a jury trial.
Harrington killed Ella Lowery and kidnapped and killed her 8-year-old daughter Iyana Lowery in 2017.
According to an arrest warrant, law enforcement agents obtained video footage from New Bridge Road in McColl that places Harrington near an abandoned home where “personal belongings of Ella Lowery were found after the murder.”
The warrant also details how Harrington killed the young girl after kidnapping her from her home. Harrington placed Iyana Lowery’s body in a remote pool of water off New Bridge Road in McColl, where she was discovered. Harrington “transported [Iyana] in a 1998 Mitsubishi Eclipse,” where Iyana’s DNA was found in the trunk of the car, the warrant indicated.
Arrest warrants also show that authorities found Harrington’s DNA on a cigarette at the home on Craig Circle in Bennettsville where Ella Lowery’s body was found. Forensic testing also showed that Iyana Lowery’s DNA was inside Harrington’s vehicle.
Ella Lowery’s cause of death was determined to be two stab wounds to the neck. The daughter’s cause of death was undetermined because of the state of decomposition.
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