Shelley Lowe deadThe girlfriend of missing six-year-old Aaroné Thompson's father has died, apparently of a heart condition, police say.
Shelley Lowe, 32, was transported to an Aurora hospital early this morning and was pronounced dead at 5:30 a.m., Aurora Police Chief Dan Oates said.
"This appears to be the result of a medical emergency," Oates said. "It appears to be a natural death."
Aaroné was reported missing by her father on Nov. 14. After three days of searching, police announced that they believed the girl was killed in the family home more than a year earlier.
Police have never announced suspects, but in the early stages of the investigation, they labeled Aaron Thompson and Lowe as persons of interest.
This morning, Arapahoe County district attorney Carol Chambers said the grand jury's inquiry would begin on schedule but that Lowe's death would likely delay proceedings.
"I think that we can anticipate that this will slow the process down. We will want to talk to the children. Certainly this will be a traumatic event for them," she said.
Oates said that Aaron Thompson was being cooperative with police about the investigation into Lowe's death.
At 4:30 a.m., Aaron Thompson called 911 saying that his wife was having trouble breathing, Oates said. Paramedics arrived within five minutes and rushed her to the hospital, he said.
Although it is not natural that someone would die at her age, Lowe has a history of heart problems, Oates said.
Lowe's attorney Walter Gerash said he thinks the pressure of being under suspicion in Aaroné's death and having to fight for custody of eight children removed from her house contributed to her death.
“She had a pre-existing heart condition,” Gerash said. “The heart-rending condition of taking her children away would only exacerbate her heart condition. I think it is very sad.”
For the past six months she has endured repeated comments by Oates impugning her character even though she was never charged with a crime, Gerash said.
“The police department had a continuous unrelenting publicity campaign,” he said. “She was under a lot of pressure.”
Oates has said he believed his department had built a strong enough case to make arrests, but he was persuaded to allow the case to go to a grand jury.
But he declined to comment about whether his comments contributed to Lowe's death. “I'm not going to dignify that with a response,” Oates said.
Oates said records that the grand jury will likely request in this case include social services documents previously withheld from police.
Lowe and Thompson had been working through the courts to regain custody of eight other children removed from their care when police announced that the missing child case had become a homicide investigation.
Out of respect for the children I won't comment on Ms. Lowe's Death.
BUT I will say that Mr. Gerash and Mr. Riddle are not doctors and need to grow up. Your 15 minutes are over, Buh Bye.
They have both turned out to be grand standing, pompus, arrogant wind bags prospering on the pain of others. So stop the postering and do us all a favor and SHUT UP.
Johnnie Cochran you ain't. So don't go away mad, just go away.
Nuff said.
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