Joseph M. Lowery is charged with attempted first-degree murder in Lewis County Superior Court, an offense with a maximum penalty of life in prison.
By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – The 20-year-old who grew up in Winlock is being held on $500,000 bail, accused of leaning into the bushes and taking aim with a pistol – from some 50 feet away – at his former girlfriend as she sat alone next to a stream in the woods.
Shyann Gallimore, also 20, was struck in the back with what authorities believe was a 22 caliber bullet.
But it could be as long as two weeks before the round is removed, and examined.
“It ricocheted off something, and lodged in my shoulder,” Gallimore said yesterday.
The young woman was taken by a friend to Providence Centralia Hospital where she was treated and sent home the same night. Gallimore is home in Winlock, where she lives with friends she said are taking care of her.
Courtesy photo from Gallimore.
The incident took place on the outskirts of Winolequa Park in the South Lewis County community. The Lewis County Sheriff’s Office said it happened about 6:30 p.m. on Saturday.
“This is a safety issue,” Lewis County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Sara Beigh said as she addressed bail for the suspect yesterday afternoon.
Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey agreed the amount was appropriate.
The sheriff’s office reported the suspect had threatened violence before against the victim and made reference to an ongoing dispute.
Prosecutors in charging documents allege the suspect told deputies he had become tired of Gallimore disrespecting the “Juggalo family.”
Joseph M. Lowery is charged with attempted first-degree murder.
Prosecutors say he and a 16-year-old boy who was with him that evening admitted they are members of the Juggalo gang. And that on a previous occasion, Lowery had allegedly told the teen if he ever saw Gallimore in “his” woods, he would shoot her.
And that he would “put it on the hatchet,” a Juggalo term meaning promise, according to prosecutors.
Juggalo is a name used by fans of performance artists called the Insane Clown Posse. Federal law enforcement agencies identified Juggalos as a non-traditional type gang in 2011.
Whatever exactly the reason for the weekend shooting, temporary defense attorney Joely O’Rourke alluded to another possibility yesterday afternoon when the suspect was given a court appointed attorney.
“I suspect Mr. Arcuri will be asking for a mental health evaluation,” O’Rourke told the judge.
His mother was among those in the courtroom, to support him, O’Rourke said. And he has absolutely no criminal history, she said.
The sheriff’s office and charging documents give the following account of what took place:
Gallimore was at a mutual friend’s home on Limmer Road earlier on Saturday, and when she learned Lowery was headed there, she called a friend to pick her up near Winolequa Park to make sure she didn’t walk home alone. Gallimore was afraid of Lowery.
She walked to a trail leading to the park and was sitting down and on the phone with the friend when she heard a pop, felt pain in her back, reached around to touch and then found blood on her hand.
The friend, who Gallimore said is a roommate and like a little brother to her, took her to the hospital. That’s where deputies responded to learn what happened.
An X-ray revealed an object in her back consistent with a .22 caliber round. An injury near the middle of her back is consistent with a bullet wound.
When deputies located the 16-year-old later that night at a residence on Sears Road, he told them he and Lowery knew Gallimore was at Limmer Road and were on their way there, but as they got to the park, Lowery asked him for the .22 revolver in his backpack.
They went into the woods and as they walked up the trail they saw her, sitting next to the stream. The teen said Lowery told him to keep walking, and then Lowery leaned into the bushes and aimed the gun.
The teen said he heard a pop, he heard Gallimore yelling, and they ran away up a trail.
The 16-year-old, who also lives in Winlock, was booked into the Lewis County Juvenile Detention Center and yesterday, Judge Brosey found probable cause to hold him, as prosecutors requested, as an accomplice in the crime of attempted first-degree murder.
His bail was also was set at $500,000.
Prosecutors wanted more time to make a final decision, but the nature of the proposed potential charge, a class A felony, made it automatic the 16-year-old be handled in adult court, according to Lewis County Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Brad Meagher.
However, today, Meagher said further review of the case indicated the more appropriate charges for the teen were only second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and tampering with evidence. And prosecutors decided not to charge him as an adult.
The charges were filed today.
The 16-year-old, who had been moved to the Lewis County Jail, went before Judge Brosey once again this afternoon, for a juvenile detention hearing.
Deputy Prosecutor Joel DeFazio and a juvenile probation officer urged the judge to continue to hold the teen until his arraignment.
A major concern is the gun has not been recovered, Judge Brosey was told.
The teen was to be sent back to the juvenile detention following the hearing. Court appointed attorney Shane O’Rourke is representing him
The teen’s arraignment is Tuesday at 1:30 p.m. Lowery’s arraignment is Thursday at 10:40 a.m.
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For background, read “Sheriff’s Office: Winlock woman shot in back in park by ex, survives” from Monday July 20, 2015, here
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