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The ex-wife of the double amputee shot to death by police officers in California last week said watching the heartbreaking footage of his death “broke me.”
Myissha Simpson-Lowe, 39, was married to Anthony Lowe, 36, until July 2021 when she filed for divorce citing irreconcilable differences.
But the mother-of-two told DailyMail.com the couple remained friends after their split and now wants justice for Lowe, who she said was struggling to come to terms with the recent amputation of his legs when he was killed last Thursday.
‘Watching the video broke me. Sorry… he was helpless. He wasn’t a threat. He couldn’t do anything. He was trying to escape, ”he said in an exclusive interview.
Myissha Simpson-Lowe, 39, was married to Anthony Lowe, 36, who was fatally shot by police in Huntington Park, California, until July 2021.
Lowe, who used a wheelchair to get around after recently losing both legs, was killed in a hail of 10 bullets after trying to flee from police last Thursday. He is shown lying on the sidewalk after being shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene
She added: ‘I just want justice please. In fact, he’s about a child-sized man, basically. What threat was that? What threat was that?
‘For them to do anything, it could have been done in a non-lethal way. What happened to the rubber bullets? What happened to the bean bags they used to shoot?
‘Bullets? That was not necessary. I’d like to see those cops prosecuted.
Lowe, who was wheelchair bound after losing both legs, was killed in a hail of 10 bullets in Huntington Park, California, last Thursday.
He was unemployed and living in South Central Los Angeles with his 53-year-old mother Dorothy at the time of his death.
The Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, which is investigating the incident, said Huntington Park police received reports of a stabbing in the 2400 block of Slauson Avenue at 3:40 p.m.
When the police arrived, they found a man with stab wounds to the chest; the unidentified victim remains hospitalized.
Lowe was discovered a few blocks away, sitting in his wheelchair, but said he pulled out a 12-inch meat cleaver and allegedly tried to throw it at them when they tried to arrest him.
Police were called to the scene by reports of a stabbing on Slauson Ave and found Lowe a few blocks away allegedly wielding a butcher knife. They claim that he then tried to throw the knife at them
Lowe Jr. was carrying a large knife that police say he had just used to stab someone. After failing to subdue him with his taser, officers said they feared he would throw the knife at them.
Then he turned and tried to walk quickly away from them, clutching a large meat cleaver in one hand.
Police said they then made several attempts to electrocute him, but opened fire when he tried to throw the knife at them a second time.
The Los Angeles Medical Examiner has already completed an inquest into his death, with Lowe’s manner of death listed as a homicide, while the place of death is listed, simply, ‘sidewalk.’
Lowe had no criminal record in Los Angeles County, but police knew he had been arrested on a 2007 warrant for robbery and petty theft on April 20, 2021.
All charges were dismissed after a preliminary hearing two weeks later, on May 4.
Myissha, who met Lowe in 2005 through mutual friends, described the man she was instantly “in awe of” as “the kindest spirit.”
The couple married in 2011 and welcomed daughter Ar’Rian, now 15, in 2005, but split in 2017.
She said: ‘He was the kindest spirit who would do anything for anyone in his power.
‘He was affectionate [to Ar’Rian]. There when he needed to talk and when he needed his father.
She added: ‘We were still friends. We still talk. If he needed me I was there and vice versa. It’s just that there was nothing legal. Although it was still there.
But the mother-of-two also recounted how Lowe had been struggling in recent months, after losing her legs following what her older sister, Yatoya Toy, 38, described as an altercation with police in Texas during an interview with the The Los Angeles Times.
LA Medical Examiner, with Lowe’s manner of death listed as homicide, while place of death simply reads ‘sidewalk’
Myissha and Anthony Lowe married in 2011 and welcomed daughter Ar’Rian, now 15, in 2005, but eventually divorced in July 2021. The mother-of-two says the exes remained friends even after of their separation.
Myissha said she does not know the circumstances of the incident, but confirmed that it happened in late 2022 and that Lowe had been trying to come to terms with his life-changing injuries.
She told DailyMail.com that he had not had a “mental health crisis” as previously reported, but had instead been working to “start over” as an amputee.
“That’s not what they were saying, what they were saying is if you lose your legs, you’re going through something,” he said.
‘You have to try to make everything work again as you can function daily but without legs. That’s hard for anyone. That is a great challenge for anyone.
“That’s a challenge for anyone, basically having to start over.”
Myissha, who works as a dispatcher for the First Student Group America school bus company, says she is now focused on supporting Ar’Rian as he mourns the loss of his father.
She said the teenager saw video of her father being shot dead and is “devastated” by the loss of the man she spent much of her time with.
Myissha told DailyMail.com that Lowe had not had a “mental health crisis” as previously reported, but was instead working to “start over” as an amputee.
Family and friends of Anthony Lowe Jr hold a news conference to demand an investigation into his death outside the Huntington Park Police Department on Monday.
Myissha said: ‘It is very difficult. This is not something he would want her son to go through, not at such a young age.
“He’s 36 and she’s 15. That’s not something any kid would want to go through. Not now.
The brave mom added: ‘It’s hard. But I have to be strong for my daughter. Right now I’m her voice, ask her how she feels and let everyone know.
‘She is also suffering. Not just everyone else, she is too.
Lt. Hugo Reynaga of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Office said the officers involved had been suspended “for a few days” but no official disciplinary action had been taken.
The officers involved have not been identified.
The incident comes three weeks after unarmed 29-year-old Tire Nichols was beaten to death by a different group of police officers in Memphis, Tennessee.