Ypsilanti man accused of murdering girlfriend in New York was sex offender

Brian Christopher Lowry, now 32, was 16 years old when he was charged with first-degree criminal sexual conduct in the Washtenaw County Trial Court. In August 1996, Lowry was arrested and accused of sexually penetrating a girl under the age of 13 at "an abandoned gravel pit pond" near Joan Circle in Ypsilanti Township, court records indicate.

Records list Lowry's address at the time as being in the mobile home park where the assault took place. He stood mute to the charges when arraigned and was held on a $10,000 cash bond. A subsequent competency examination determined Lowry was mentally fit to stand trial.

He was held at the Washtenaw County Juvenile Detention center until the summer of 1997, when he pleaded no contest to a lesser charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, according to court records. The first-degree charge was dismissed.

After the plea, he was sent to live at the Adrian Training School, a residential treatment center for juveniles, with an opportunity for his case to be reviewed every six months, according to court records. He stayed at the school until 2000 when he was released to the Academy Hall in Kalamazoo, a halfway house for juveniles.

Four months after being sent there, Lowry disappeared. In October 2000, a bench warrant was issued for his arrest that stated: "Brian did not return to this lawful placement from work and remains away. His whereabouts are unknown."

A month later, court records indicate Lowry pleaded guilty to violating his probation. In March 2001, he was released from the Adrian Training School to the Dawn Farm alcohol and drug treatment facility. He was eventually released from custody in July 2001.

A second court case shows Lowry failed to register as a sex offender in 2005. He is listed as having an address in Buffalo, N.Y., near where Heather Rylowicz, 34, was found killed in her North Tonawanda home, according to media reports.

Lowry faces a charge of second-degree murder in her death, the Tonawanda News reported.

For failing to comply with his status as a sex offender, Lowry was sentenced to 12 months in the Washtenaw County Jail. He served roughly 90 days of that sentence before being released in August 2006.

According to media reports, Rylowicz was found dead Wednesday in her home. Lowry was arrested early Saturday.

He is currently being held without bond in the murder case.