Woman Found Not Guilty Of Stabbing At Heights Church

CLEVELAND HEIGHTS, OH — A woman accused of stabbing a person inside a Cleveland Heights church was found not guilty by reason of insanity on Tuesday. Prosecutors argued the woman went on a rampage because she saw a person wearing faux fur boots.

According to Cleveland Heights police, on Nov. 20, 2019, a woman was stabbed at Fairmount Presbyterian Church. The woman suffered non-life threatening injuries, police reported. A police spokesperson said witnesses wrestled Lowell to the ground at the church and took a knife from her. Officers then arrived and took the 35-year-old into custody.

Meredith Lowell pleaded not guilty to attempted murder, felonious assault and other charges in December 2019. She waived her right to a jury trial, WKYC reported, and was found not guilty on Tuesday.

Lowell has also been accused of felonious assault in a separate trial and will remain in temporary custody until that hearing in March.

On Nov. 20, before the incident at Fairmount Presbyterian, Lowell was found not guilty by reason of insanity for threatening a woman wearing a fur coat, News 5 reported. In 2012, she was accused of hiring a hitman to kill a person wearing fur, WKYC noted.