Antioch man admits killing grandmother, setting body on fire

An Antioch man with a history of psychological problems pleaded guilty Monday to murdering his grandmother.

Jeremy Lowrey faces up to 60 years in prison for choking, beating and stabbing his grandmother Jeanie Lowrey on May 17, 2008. He went into a rage after the 70-year-old Round Lake Beach woman told him she was going to tell the police he had stolen some of her checks.

According to a statement Jeremy Lowrey gave investigators from the Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, he took a phone charger cord and wrapped it around his grandmother's neck until she passed out.

He then took a pillow from her bed and tried to smother her, but the woman awoke and kicked him in the groin and hit him with her cane.

Lowrey, 23, told police he took the cane from the woman, struck her with it and hit her twice in the head with a glass ashtray.

Jeanie Lowrey was staggering forward when her grandson grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed her three times. A coroner's report said the woman suffered wounds to her abdomen, side of her neck and center of her neck.

Lowrey then took a can of turpentine from the garage of his grandmother's house, poured it over her body and around the room and set the room on fire before fleeing.

Assistant State's Attorney Patricia Fix said Monday an inquest determined the woman had died before the fire began.

Lowrey was arrested two days later after his father called police and told them his son had called him and confessed to the crime.

The knife, cane and ashtray used in the crime were found wrapped inside a towel inside Jeanie Lowrey's house, Fix said.

Lowrey had been taking medication to treat his bipolar disease before the murder, and defense attorney Christopher Lombardo of Waukegan said Monday his client had suffered "significant psychological episodes" while in jail awaiting trial.

Prosecutors declined to seek the death penalty against Lowrey, but did file charges making him eligible for a life prison term because the murder had been committed in an exceptionally brutal and heinous manner.

Fix dropped those charges Monday in exchange for Lowrey's plea to one count of first-degree murder that provides for a sentence of 20 to 60 years in prison.

Associate Judge Theodore Potkonjak scheduled a sentencing hearing for Feb. 10.

Lowrey is held without bond in the Lake County jail.