David Rowe is a teen killer from Virginia who was convicted of the murder of his Grandmother
According to court documents David Rowe was living in a trailer on a property owned by his Grandmother Dianna Lynne Swaner. A few months before the murder Rowe would be arrested for an assault on his Grandmother. Unfortunately the next violent encounter between the pair would end with Rowe beating his Grandmother to death
David Rowe would be arrested, convicted and sentenced to forty years in prison with fifteen years suspended meaning he must serve twenty five years
David Rowe Now
Personal Information
David Austin Rowe
Alias:
Not Available Age/Race/Sex
20/White/Male
Location
Nottoway Correctional Center
Inmate I.D.# 2107273
Release Date 07/13/2043
David Rowe Case
A Frederick County man with a history of mental illness will spend the next 25 years in prison for beating his grandmother to death over a can of beans.
Twenty-year-old David Rowe was sentenced Thursday afternoon in Frederick County Circuit Court for the Aug. 28, 2021, second-degree murder of Dianna Lynne Swaner, his 63-year-old grandmother who had been allowing him to stay in a trailer on her property on Quail Run Lane.
Judge Alexander Iden imposed a total prison term of 40 years but suspended 15 years of the sentence. That aligns with an October plea agreement between prosecutors and Rowe’s defense attorney, Collin Andrew Heffern, that capped the amount of time the defendant would serve at 25 years.
Frederick County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Robbins said Virginia’s sentencing guidelines recommended a prison term of 21 years 7 months for Rowe, but the final decision was left up to Iden. The judge chose to exceed the guidelines due to the severity of Rowe’s crime.
Once David Rowe is released from custody, he will spend five years on supervised probation followed by another five years of unsupervised probation.
Court records state David Rowe has a history of mental illness and violent outbursts. He had been a ward of the Virginia Department of Social Services since his mother died in 2015, and his sometimes troubling behavior caused him to be removed from several group homes overseen by the state.
On April 9, 2021, the then-18-year-old Rowe was charged with assaulting his grandmother while in Winchester. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery in Winchester General District Court and received a 12-month jail sentence, all of which was suspended.
In August 2021, about a week before Swaner’s murder, Rowe was homeless and staying at the Winchester Rescue Mission’s shelter on North Cameron Street. However, he had to be removed from the mission for reportedly threatening to kill members of the nonprofit’s staff.
Rowe was taken to Winchester Medical Center and, due to his erratic behavior, was held there under an eight-hour emergency custody order. During his hospital stay, Rowe received medication and was able to calm down, so officials did not detain him further.
But he tested positive for COVID-19 while at the hospital and refused to wear a face mask, so he could not return to the Rescue Mission. Instead, Swaner said her grandson could temporarily stay in the trailer she owned next to her Quail Run Lane home.
According to an arrest report from Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Deputy B.J. Hazelwood, Rowe went into his grandmother’s house on Aug. 28, 2021, to get something to eat.
“Rowe stated that he reached for a can of beans and Swaner stopped him,” Hazelwood wrote. “Rowe stated he then punched Swaner in the head closed fisted with his left hand, then grabbed Swaner from her chair and rammed her head into the television.”
Rowe also shoved Swaner’s head into the corner of a fireplace and struck her with a candle in a glass jar, Hazelwood wrote. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics and deputies.
Rowe was taken into custody and ordered held without bail at the Northwestern Regional Adult Detention Center near Winchester.
After Rowe became an inmate, Heffern raised concerns about his client’s mental health and suggested he may not be competent to stand trial. In November 2021, Frederick/Winchester Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Kimberly M. Athey appointed clinical psychologist William T. McKenna to evaluate Rowe.
After McKenna deemed Rowe competent in May 2022, Athey forwarded the case to a Frederick County Circuit Court grand jury, which returned a second-degree murder indictment against him the next month.
Robbins has said Rowe will receive appropriate medication while in prison and, if necessary, additional mental health services.
David Rowe News
A 19-year-old Frederick County man has pleaded guilty to the second-degree murder of his grandmother.
Dianna Lynne Swaner, 63, was beat to death on Aug. 28, 2021, in her home at 1344 Quail Run Lane by her grandson, David Austin Rowe, who had been staying in a trailer on her property.
Frederick County Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Andrew Robbins said Rowe admitted his guilt during a Thursday morning hearing in Frederick County Circuit Court under the terms of a plea agreement that caps the maximum amount of time he can spend in prison at 25 years.
Rowe is scheduled to be formally sentenced on Jan. 19 following completion of a pre-sentence report. Robbins said a preliminary calculation using Virginia’s sentencing guidelines indicates a recommended prison term of 21 years 7 months, but a judge will make the final determination.
In Virginia, second-degree murder is a Class 1 felony that carries a minimum five-year prison sentence and a maximum term of 40 years.
Court records state David Rowe has a history of mental illness and violent outbursts. He had been a ward of the Virginia Department of Social Services since his mother died in 2015. His sometimes troubling behavior caused him to be removed from several group homes overseen by Social Services.
On April 9, 2021, the then-18-year-old David Rowe was charged with assaulting his grandmother while in Winchester. He pleaded no contest to a misdemeanor charge of assault and battery in Winchester General District Court and received a 12-month jail sentence, all of which was suspended.
In August 2021, about a week before Swaner’s murder, Rowe was staying at the Winchester Rescue Mission’s homeless shelter on North Cameron Street but had to be removed for allegedly threatening to kill members of the nonprofit’s staff. He was then placed under an eight-hour emergency custody order at Winchester Medical Center.
Brandan Thomas, executive director of the Rescue Mission, has said Rowe is fine when he takes his medication but can become violent and erratic when he does not. During his eight-hour stay at Winchester Medical Center, Rowe received medication and calmed down so officials had no reason to detain him further.
However, David Rowe tested positive for COVID-19 while at the hospital and refused to wear a face mask, so he could not return to the Rescue Mission. Instead, Swaner said he could temporarily stay in the trailer she owned next to her Quail Run Lane home.
According to an arrest report from Frederick County Sheriff’s Office Deputy B.J. Hazelwood, Rowe went into his grandmother’s house on Aug. 28, 2021, to get something to eat.
”Rowe stated that he reached for a can of beans and Swaner stopped him,” Hazelwood wrote. “Rowe stated he then punched Swaner in the head closed fisted with his left hand, then grabbed Swaner from her chair and rammed her head into the television.”
David Rowe also shoved Swaner’s head into the corner of a fireplace and struck her with a candle in a glass jar, Hazelwood wrote. She was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics and deputies.
After David Rowe was taken into custody, his defense attorney, Collin Andrew Heffern, raised concerns about his client’s mental health and suggested he may not be competent to stand trial. In November, Frederick/Winchester Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court Judge Kimberly M. Athey appointed clinical psychologist William T. McKenna to evaluate Rowe.
After David Rowe was deemed competent in May, Athey forwarded the case to a Frederick County Circuit Court grand jury, which returned a second-degree murder indictment against him on June 9.
Robbins said on Thursday that Rowe will receive appropriate medication and, if necessary, additional mental health services while he serves his prison sentence.
