Acquitted in Birmingham quadruple homicide, Shaunasty Lowe says he is innocent, prays for victims' families

Jeremy Gray | By Jeremy Gray |
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on September 23, 2010 at 7:55 PM, updated September 23, 2010 at 11:53 PM
shaunasty lowe 6.jpgShaunasty Lowe listens to reporters' questions with his aunt, Fannie Perry, by his side. (The Birmingham News / Linda Stelter)

Shaunasty Lowe is a free man, but he knows many believe he is guilty of the quadruple homicide he was acquitted of Monday.

In an interview Thursday, the 21-year-old said he had nothing to do with the July 24, 2008, execution-style slayings of Derrick Witherspoon, 37; Elizabeth McFarland Witherspoon, 34; Jerome McFarland, 13; and Justin McFarland, 11. The family was found dead inside their Grasselli Heights home, which police said was burned to cover the slayings.

"I'm not what they put me out there to be," Lowe said a day after being released from the Jefferson County Jail where he had been held for more than two years on a capital murder charge.

"I'm not a killer. I'm a humble person; I get along with people. I don't have enemies."

Lowe said he wants to pick up his life where he left it when he saw TV news reports saying he was a suspect and realized the police he saw milling about in an apartment parking lot were looking for him.

It was during interviews with Birmingham police detectives that Lowe told some of the various versions of what happened that night, saying at times he knew nothing about the case and later that he waited in a car while three others killed the family.

In an interview with The News, Lowe insisted he knew nothing of the crime, had never been to the Witherspoon house, and had never seen pictures of the family because the images shown in court faced the jury and not him.

Lowe said he believed police arrested him because "there was a lot of people talking about seeing me at the (Witherspoon) house. I never been there."

A videotaped statement shown in court showed Lowe saying he drove three men identified only as "Boobie Cat," "Lil' Ray" and "Bud" to the Witherspoons' house to purchase Lortabs, but Lowe said he did not know them or anyone else involved in the crime.

Lowe said Thursday it was a Birmingham homicide detective who told Lowe to say things that seemed to implicate him in the crime.

"He (the detective) was doing all the talking," Lowe said. "They came in with two or three theories."

Asked why he made the statements if he was innocent, Lowe said he was scared at the time, but did not want to elaborate. "There was stuff that went on in that room I don't want to get into," Lowe said of the questioning.

"We didn't tell him what to say," said Birmingham police Sgt. Sam Noblitt. "He told us things someone would only have known if they were there." 

Bill Veitch, chief deputy district attorney in the Bessemer division of Jefferson County, said he stands by the case his office presented against Lowe.

"He was driving the getaway car, he was there when the house burned down, he helped get rid of the guns," Veitch said of Lowe. "Everybody can draw their own conclusions. I've drawn mine."

At the time of his arrest, Lowe, a former Hoover High School student, was studying at Lawson State Community College to get his GED. He said he wants to get an education, a job and stay active in church.

It was his faith, Lowe said, that got him through two years in jail, which he called "the devil's pulpit."

"When you spend time behind bars and you hadn't did it, it hurts," Lowe said. "It's not a daycare over there ... I wasn't living, I was just existing."

Seeing comments condemning him on and reading threatening remarks about him on Facebook has caused Lowe to fear for his safety, and he said he was unfairly portrayed in The Birmingham News.

"They saying I got away with murder. It was saying I was supposed to be found guilty," Lowe said of The News.

Lowe said as he faces those who believe he is guilty of four murders, he will continue to rely on his faith in God. It was that faith, he said, that led him to believe he would leave jail a free man.

"I believed God would get me out of it. God knew I had nothing to do with it," Lowe said.

Lowe said he prays for the loved ones of the four victims. "I hope that God (will) be with them ... I hope they can find it in their hearts to realize I'm not the one who did it."

Elizabeth McFarland Witherspoon's mother, Sarah McFarland, said she was present at the trial when a tape was played where Lowe said three people leaving the house tried to give him their guns.

"It's his voice on the tape; those are his words," McFarland said. "I never saw who did it. I never pointed a finger. I know someone did it and I hope in the future they pay for what they did, for taking the lives they did."

Lowe's cousin, 21-year-old Steven Williams, is scheduled to stand trial in the case. "I know he didn't have anything to do with it," Lowe said of Williams. Lowe said he did not know if he would be called to testify at that trial.

Lowe's aunt, Fannie Perry, said she believes Lowe is innocent and is critical of the police investigation.

"There is nobody that could hear this story and not be hurt by it, but this young man did not do it," Perry said. "The police should get out there and do their jobs and find out who slaughtered these people."

Shaunasty Lowe denies involvement in quadruple homicide