Dakota Lowry

He is Letecia’s brother.

He sounds nervous or sad; this is tough for him.
He lives in North Carolina.
He starts crying. He yells “Why Tecia!?”
A break is taken; he says he just wants to get this over with. Judge Werner explains the jury has to be there and he will be questioned by the prosecution and his sister’s attorneys.
The state asks him if he can keep his cool; he says he will try his best. If he needs a break he can let them know.
The jury is back.
He has two other sisters; their mom is Debra. He has multiple nieces including Harley.
He points out the defendant as Letecia Stauch, his sister.
Dakota hasn’t seen Letecia since January 2020.
In January 2020; his aunt Brenda, his mom, and he all flew to Colorado to help support Letecia because they felt she was being wrongly accused of something they thought she would never do; they wanted to help look for Gannon.
He knew his mom was going, so he went too to support her.
He flew to Denver on January 30th and Brenda Acquard, his aunt, rented a car - a Nissan Altima.
Brenda drove the car from the airport to Colorado Springs.
They went to a shopping center with a Marshalls store in it where Letecia and Harley were.
Letecia told them that the cops had threw her and Harley down and detained them.
They got a hotel at the extended suites; in Dakota’s room there was his mom and his aunt Brenda. He can’t remember if he got one room or two rooms.
The next morning, Brenda rented a van to help Letecia and Harley move their things.
Letecia tried to get her pocketbook back from the authorities; they went to the police department and Letecia went inside.
Once they got to the house with the van they started loading it up with everything Harley and Letecia brought out; officers checked everything that was brought out.
Dakota was aggravated because he felt he and the family were being looked at as criminals.
Dakota figured she was heading back to South Carolina.
He recalls the interview with a news reporter but isn’t sure how to came to happen.
Dakota was driving the van.
Letecia told her family she would ask Al when the next search was so they could join; they didn’t feel they were being treated right but they did want to help.
She never gave them a time or place to look; they’re not from the area.
At some point, Letecia said she was going to get dog food. She left in the Nissan Altima.
She was gone for “a while” - longer than what he expected but he doesn’t remember. She was gone for a long time but he thought maybe she just needed a minute to herself.
No one tried to call her and see where she was that he remembers.
When she arrived back at the hotel she was normal; he can’t remember if she had dog food with her.
On February 1st, 2020 Dakota helped her rent a new van from the Budget rental. They unloaded everything from the first van into the second rental van.
He saw her with a lot of suitcases; one was very heavy.
He offered to help her and she said she didn’t need help. He asked what was in the suitcase; she said softball stuff.
He didn’t feel right about the suitcase; it was too heavy for her.
E48 is a suitcase.
E48 is the green suitcase he saw Letecia putting into the van and she wouldn’t let him help with.
After everything was loaded into the van they were ready to go home.
Dakota drove Brenda’s van to wherever they had to return it but he doesn’t remember where; Letecia drove the Budget van.
Letecia had said something about going back to Myrtle Beach; she and Harley left.
Letecia is 14 years older than Dakota; he would see her on holidays. He went to Myrtle Beach to stay with them and visit.
His dad is James Lowry, Letecia’s stepfather. James passed on Dakota’s birthday in 2004. He got hit by a car.
He isn’t sure of the relationship between his dad and his sister but if there was anything unusual he thinks he would have heard about it because his mom would have said something.
Brenda(?) was a great mom to him; “I don’t think none of us should have a problem with my mama”.
When he was with Letecia, he saw her interact with others, make decisions, and go through every day life.
He does not know her to have a serious mental illness, they just said she was OCD which they called “obsessive cleaning disorder” because she had to keep stuff clean.
She liked to keep everything clean and everything had its spot.
When you were around her you kept things clean so she wouldn’t talk to you about it.
Dakota doesn’t remember Letecia using other names but she did not like her name; he doesn’t know why she doesn’t like her name.
The state asks if she has ever called herself Harmony or Jasmine, he says no.
Dakota thinks Letecia liked Disney movies.
Dakota has never heard her speak in a Spanish accent.
He had not seen her in any stressful situation except for in Colorado; she did not speak in an accent in CO.
The state asks if she has ever called herself Maria, he says no.
Dakota thinks Letecia has the capacity to know right from wrong; she’s too smart not to.
Letecia is a good athlete; she plays softball, baseball, and basketball.
Dakota says she is more of a leader than a follower.
She can drive a vehicle; she stopped at red lights and went when it turned green.
Dakota has witnessed her obey the law throughout his entire life, even in Colorado.
She acted funny the whole time they were in Colorado; seemed stressed out about everything that was going on and looking over her shoulder.
The cops detaining her may have made her paranoid about the cops following her.
When he heard Letecia pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity, Dakota believed it was the only way Letecia did it at that time.

Cross Examination

The defense suggests that the Letecia Dakota knows, the only way she could do something so horrible, is if she had some type of mental break.
As soon as his body was found, Dakota knew she did it. He thought she might of snapped and went crazy. But now? No.
They are outcasts in their own town; he feels everyone is looking and judging him and his mom.
Defense says it’s his stepsisters fault.
Dakota says she isn’t his stepsister. She is his half sister.
Dakota is angry at her for the embarrassment she caused their whole family.
In Colorado, she was acting different than normal; she was pacing and paranoid. Her mom was concerned for her mental health.
Letecia was paranoid and thought a black BMW was following her.
Letecia was 16 when she moved out of the house; Dakota was 2 at the time. He has no active memories of her with his father.
James Lowry had a drinking problem and would be physical with his mother; sometimes his mom had to take them to a hotel to get away from him.
Sometimes when his mom was at work, he would watch the kids.
James once gave Dakota so much alcohol as a child - a toddler - that he passed out.
His mother would sometimes leave him knives so he could protect himself.

Redirect

James was in the Air Force; he served in a war. He was different when he got back but James can’t speak on it because he was so young. They separated when he was 3.
His mom was protective of the kids; she doesn’t play about her kids. “She protected us”.
She protected herself.
He thought Letecia may have a mental break at first but now he feels like too much was done for that to be true.
When she told him there was softball equipment in the suitcase it shows that she knew right and wrong and intentionally hid his body.

Juror question

Do you remember where the green suitcase was retrieved from?: No. The first time he saw it was when they were moving things from one van to another. He doesn’t remember seeing it come out of the house when they were moving things from the house.