‘We’re shattered’: Durham woman killed remembered as loving nurse, boyfriend charged with murder

Family and friends are mourning the loss of Durham woman who police said was killed Wednesday by her boyfriend.

Auriel Lowe, 34, grew up in Santa Clarita, California, and after earning her master’s degree at Jacksonville State University as a nurse, she received a promotion at Duke.

On Thursday, WRAL News spoke with Lowe’s father, Paul, and her stepmother, Teresa. They described Lowe as a loving sister, an avid reader and a hard worker. They said she loved horseback riding, motorcycle riding and travel.

“She was in ICU during her residency for two and half years, and she had just literally gotten promoted into her career path in the operating room to move towards her nurse anesthesiology,” Teresa Lowe said.

Christopher Whitley, 31, is charged with Lowe’s murder. Authorities are holding him without bond.

After an hours-long standoff with police on Wednesday, Whitley surrendered.

"When it's your child, it really feels not real, and you have to be strong for everybody around,” Paul Lowe said.

Teresa Lowe said her stepdaughter flew back to California for Mother’s Day and visited in June to see her brother perform in his first stage play.

“She came to support him and got all the family to come, and she was just beaming, proud, big sister of her brother,” Teresa Lowe said. “That's the type of person she was. She supported you 150%."

Police said they believe Whitley and Auriel Lowe had been in a relationship.

In court Thursday morning, prosecutors said Whitley has a record of two previous convictions, including for assault on a family member in Texas.

 Auriel Lowe loved horseback riding, motorcycle riding and travel, her stepmother said. Neither parent knew much about Whitley.

“She was always trying to help the strays, for lack of any other way to put it,” Teresa Lowe said. “She always had a heart to [think], ‘I can fix this person,’ right? And that's just who she was."

 Auriel Lowe would often pray with her patients.

"We're just shattered here as a family and her friends, and, I mean, she's my baby, and it just … it just hurts,” her father said.

Anyone with information on the case is asked to call Durham police at 919-560-4440 extension 29529.

People can also call CrimeStoppers at 919-683-1200 or submit a tip online. CrimeStoppers pays cash rewards for information leading to arrests in felony cases and callers never have to identify themselves.