INDIANAPOLIS — A jury has found an Indianapolis man guilty of murdering the mother of his pregnant girlfriend by shooting her 15 times in a fit of anger that stemmed from arguments over a Facebook post.
On Tuesday, Antonio Lowery, 21, was convicted by the jury and now faces between 45 and 65 years in prison for the murder of 44-year-old Deanna Sibley. His sentencing is set for Jan. 5, 2023.
According to court documents, police were called to the southeast side of Indianapolis at 3:47 a.m. on Oct. 31, 2020, on report of a person shot. Police found the victim, Deanna Sibley, lying outside Pangea Prairies Apartments with multiple gunshot wounds.
Sibley was pronounced dead at the scene.
Court documents reveal that Sibley’s daughter told police at the scene of the crime that Lowery, her boyfriend of two years and the father of her unborn child, had shot and killed her mother. The daughter was over 7 months pregnant at the time and said she heard her mother shouting for her to run after gunfire broke out in the apartment.
Sibley’s daughter reportedly took off running and hid underneath a pickup truck, hearing her mother shout “No, no, no!” before another burst of gunfire followed and she never heard her mother cry out again.
According to the court documents, the shooting was a result of Lowery’s frustration and anger boiling over as he and Sibley were reportedly arguing about Facebook posts off and on throughout the day.
Sibley’s daughter told police that Lowery had been helping her and her mother move into an apartment and the two had been arguing about the social media posts prior to Lowery storming away from them at a gas station. The mother and daughter then continued to the apartment where Lowery showed up to retrieve some shoes.
Sibley reportedly told Lowery to “just leave and go home” before Lowery started demanding $100 for helping them move. An argument then broke out over the money and Sibley’s daughter turned and began walking away. That is when she reported hearing the gunshots start and her mother told her to run.
Detectives later located Lowery and brought him in for questioning. Court documents state that Lowery reportedly admitted to detectives that he shot Sibley multiple times. He told police the same story, that he had been angry about some Facebook posts his girlfriend had made and that he argued with the mother and daughter over the posts and over the $100 he felt he was owed.
Lowery then said “things went left” and he got “mad for no reason.”
“I just got to shooting,” Lowery reportedly told detectives, stating he fired his handgun until it was empty, leaving Sibley dead in the aftermath.
Investigators were able to locate the .40 caliber handgun Lowery used in the murder after he confessed to detectives that he kept it in a closet in his apartment.
Police announced the arrest of Lowery on Nov. 23, 2020, and charged him with murder in Sibley’s death.
