INDIANAPOLIS — Shannon Turman and her husband, Jermaine, were planning to celebrate their wedding reception at the Keystone Event Center next week.
Now, they'll be using the same venue, decorations and catering for Jermaine's remembrance after he was tragically shot and killed during Shannon's mother's funeral.
Turman is still trying to process what happened at her mother's funeral. Turman said her ex-husband shot Jermaine Saturday during Shannon's mother's funeral service at the Oasis of Hope church on East 25th Street. IMPD announced Monday they had arrested 35-year-old Stefen Lowe for the homicide.
Court records show that Shannon and Stefen Lowe were divorced in February of this year.
"When he came in, I was very shocked — like a deer in headlights, like 'What is he doing here?' He had the weirdest smile on his face, like an evil grin," Turman said.
An argument Jermaine escalated into a fight outside of the church.
Shannon Turman said everyone ran outside to help pull the two men apart, but when Lowe went back to his car, things quickly turned deadly.
"(He) pulled up, pulled his gun out, same gun he used and put to my head, that we have a protective order about, and shot my husband in the chest," she said.
Shannon and Jermaine had only been married for three months, but had been friends for 15 years. They were planning on having their wedding reception this month.
"When he found out I was married and I have my own business now, he wanted in on it. He wanted 50% of my profits, and my husband was simply trying to defend me and say, 'Hey, just leave my wife alone.'"
Turman said she and her husband were under constant threats.
For months, she said she and her new husband, Jermaine, lived in fear of her ex-husband. She said Lowe been harassing them and threatening to kill them.
"He had that anger in him that, 'If I can't have you, nobody can have you' kind of attitude. He actually told me and Jermaine that he owned me," Turman said.
"He would threaten to kill us and threaten to pop up at our events and kill us. It was several altercations that he had done that," she said.
On Saturday, Shannon said Lowe made good on his threats, starting a fight with Jermaine and shooting him in the church parking lot.
"He did this in front of my son, in front of Jermaine's mother, and at my mother's funeral. Like those three things alone are like, 'What mind are you in to go to a funeral and kill someone?'" Turman said.
Shannon and Jermaine were still working on their life insurance paperwork when he was killed. Now, the family is trying to raise money to help bury yet another loved one — the man Shannon had planned her future with.
"He was such a beautiful spirit. He never met a stranger. I'm going to remember those things. It just pains me deeply that he is not here. I'm a widow," Turman said.
She said Jermaine's funeral will be an "intimate" ceremony.
"I've been in and out of panic attacks, in and out of anxiety attacks," said Turman. "This is just too much. I can't mourn my mother at all and now my husband, and I'm trying to keep from losing my mind right now."
She hopes her tragedy will save another family from experiencing heartache.
"When it comes to domestic violence, don't ignore the signs. Don't ignore the red flags," Turman said.
Court records show Lowe was charged with rape and strangulation in 2017 and domestic battery in 2021. Those cases were dismissed.