Teen killed in foster care

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Summary: Daryl Martinez Lowry, 13, was killed July 20, 2026, in Modoc, South Carolina, after two foster teens allegedly stabbed and drowned him at a lake dock. 17-year-old Landen Austin Moore is accused of participated in the crime.

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MODOC, S.C. — A short temporary stay in foster care ended in the death of 13-year-old Daryl Martinez Lowry on July 20, 2026, at a residential boat dock on Clarks Hill Lake, also known as J. Strom Thurmond Lake.

Authorities say Lowry, who was from Chester County, had been placed only days earlier in the Modoc home of McCormick County Council Chairman Bernie Hamby as an emergency foster arrangement while he waited for another placement. Two other teenagers already living there as foster children became involved in a physical fight with him in the early morning hours.

Investigators from the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division report that Lowry suffered knife lacerations during the altercation. They allege that 17-year-old Landen Austin Moore and a 16-year-old then held him underwater until he died. Moore faces a murder charge and is being held without bond at the McCormick County Detention Center. The younger teen was taken into custody by the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. His name has not been released because of his age.

McCormick County deputies found Lowry’s body at the dock around 7 a.m. that Monday. Hamby was asleep inside the residence at the time, according to officials. The McCormick County sheriff requested that SLED take over the investigation, and the South Carolina Attorney General’s Office is handling the prosecution. The case remains active.

Lowry’s relatives have hired attorney Tyler Bailey to conduct a separate inquiry focused on the circumstances of the boy’s placement in state custody and the supervision he received. Bailey has said three facts stand at the center of the matter: Lowry was 13, he was in the care of the state of South Carolina, and he had only recently arrived at the foster home.

Hamby later confirmed the placement details and said the two younger teens had arrived the previous Friday with plans to leave Monday. He has asked the state to revoke his foster care license.

The criminal investigation continues as prosecutors prepare their case against the charged teens. Lowry’s family seeks further answers about how the temporary arrangement came about and what protections were in place.

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Suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Sources/related links:

The Augusta Press
WRDW
FITSNews

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