Our department was notified that Officer Joshua Payne has been criminally charged reference the death of James Lowery on December 26, 2021. Payne was immediately placed on Unpaid Suspension pending the outcome of the Internal Affairs investigation. Payne was hired in July of 2020, and he was placed on leave immediately after the deadly force incident in December.
Now that the Criminal Investigation by an outside agency has been completed, and the State Attorney’s Office has issued a criminal charge/arrest, the Internal Affairs Investigation being conducted by the Titusville Police Department’s Professional Standards Division can be completed, and the administrative action can be taken.
As explained before, we cannot complete an officer investigation and issue any discipline when criminal charges are pending. Based upon the arrest/charges completed, Chief Lau has ordered that it now be completed without delay.
Once the IA has been completed, all non-exempt evidence in this IA, including body cam of the incident, will be released. We estimate the completion to be 7 days or less from today.