Former Titusville Police Officer Joshua Payne received probation after pleading guilty to manslaughter in the shooting death of James Lowery, a 40-year-old man who was later determined not to be the domestic violence suspect police were looking for.
The shooting happened on December 26, 2021, in Titusville, Florida. Officers were responding to a domestic violence call at night when Payne encountered Lowery, who police said matched the general description of the suspect. According to the Titusville Police Department’s internal-affairs summary, officers had already stopped and released two possible suspects before Payne encountered Lowery.
Lowery ran from Payne during the encounter. Payne pursued him for several blocks and attempted to use his Taser multiple times. According to FOX 35 Orlando reporting, investigators said Payne was holding a Taser in one hand and a handgun in the other when Lowery climbed over a gate or fence.
As Lowery was on the other side of the fence, Payne fired one round from his handgun while also holding the Taser. The bullet struck Lowery in the back of the head, killing him at the scene. FOX 35 reported that no weapons were found on Lowery or near him.
Police later determined that Lowery was not involved in the domestic violence incident that brought officers to the area. The department’s own administrative review said Payne violated department policy and acted outside his training by holding a Taser and handgun at the same time. The review also stated that “nothing in the investigation revealed any justification for the use of deadly force.”
Payne resigned from the Titusville Police Department on June 1, 2022, the same day he was arrested. The city had previously announced that he had been criminally charged in connection with Lowery’s death and placed on unpaid suspension while the internal investigation continued.
On December 6, 2024, Payne pleaded guilty to manslaughter. According to the Office of the State Attorney for Florida’s 18th Judicial Circuit, Circuit Judge Curt Jacobus accepted the plea but withheld adjudication of guilt, sentencing Payne to five years of supervised probation.
As part of the plea, Payne’s certification to work as a police officer was permanently revoked, and he was ordered to pay more than $18,000 in compensation for Lowery’s funeral expenses. WKMG ClickOrlando reported that Payne was also barred from possessing, owning, or using a firearm during probation.
Lowery’s family and civil rights attorney Benjamin Crump criticized the outcome, arguing that probation and withheld adjudication failed to deliver real accountability for a shooting that killed an unarmed man who had been wrongly identified as a suspect.
The case remains another example of how an on-duty killing by police can end with a guilty plea, permanent loss of law enforcement certification, and no prison sentence.
