SNELLVILLE, Ga.-- The family of a murdered mother said her husband used and manipulated her.
On July 21, Erica Powell, a Snellville mother of six, was murdered in her home.
That night, Powell's 12-year-old son returned home unaware that anything was amiss. Around midnight, he went to check on his mother in her bedroom and found that she had been shot.
According to Gwinnett County Police Department, a domestic dispute broke out between the newlywed and her husband, Walter J. Lowe, ensued and Powell was shot and killed.
Lowe turned himself into authorities on Saturday.
Powell's children believe Lowe manipulated their mother.
"She was manipulated by someone she thought really cared for her in her family, in her six children and that wasn’t the case," Powell’s daughter Keaundra Jackson said.
Now, they want to prevent things like that from happening to someone else. They believe Lowe, who had two open cases against him, should have been off the streets.
"To the Gwinnett County's district attorney office, I called you all for help and no one listened when I was saying he was going to kill my mother if no one helped her," Jackson said. "My family is hoping you all will be willing to give justice in death since you didn't give her justice when she was alive."
The district attorney's office said that Lowe assaulted Powell back in 2015. Powell did not want to prosecute, but the DA pressed forward with the charges.
"Lowe posted bond and was released," Gwinnett County Chief Assistant District Attorney Dan Mayfield said. "As a special condition of bond, Lowe was to have no contact with Ms. Powell. Ms. Powell contacted our office seeking to have the charges against Lowe dismissed. We refused because we believed Mr. Lowe presented a threat of future violence."
But after a judge put a condition on Lowe's bond that he not contact Powell, she filed affidavits to dismiss those conditions and the charges so that they could live together, the DA said.
"By consent, the Court issued an order to allow contact between Lowe and Powell in accordance with Ms. Powell’s request," Mayfield said.
The district attorney's office continued to pursue the charges.
"Between the time Lowe was released on bond until the time of Ms. Powell’s death, the District Attorney’s Office had no knowledge of any grounds to ask a Judge to revoke Lowe’s bond," the office said in a statement. "This office will continue to seek justice in this case."
Powell's family wanted to spread the word about domestic violence that so that it won't happen to another family.
"For anybody going through a situation like this, get help. Don’t let this be you next,” Jackson said.
"We definitely want people to know our story. Relay our store. Relate to our story. That’s what’s going to stop these domestic violence incidents. People hearing people’s stories and knowing it gets worse, if you don’t get out."
Those Powell left behind remember her as a superwoman who raised six children by herself.
“Our mother was a superwoman--built from love. She gave endlessly and never hesitated to lend a helping hand. What happened to her was beyond wrong,” Jackson said.
The boy who discovered his mother shot has been taken in by family members who say he'll need professional help to cope with what he saw.
“Our little brother is amazing,” said Powell’s daughter Kanja Dixon-Gray. “Our strength is coming from him and we are going to get him the support that he will need for the rest of his life.”
Lowe is facing aggravated assault, murder, and possession of a firearm by a convicted felon charges. His attorney said he never meant to kill her.
"I think the evidence is going to show this is not a case where my client intentionally caused the loss of his wife," said Torris Butterfield.
PHOTOS | Son finds mother of six shot, police search for her killer
