DURHAM, N.C. (Court TV) — A North Carolina man is charged with murdering his girlfriend after investigators say he showed the victim’s dead body to a friend.
Christopher Brian Whitley, 31, is charged with the first-degree murder of Auriel Cimone Lowe, 34, on Sept. 10, 2025. In an obituary posted on a fundraising site for the victim’s family, Lowe was described as a nurse who had just begun her “dream job” at Duke University Hospital.
Christopher Whitley is charged with the murder of Auriel Lowe. (VINE)
Lowe’s family told WNCN that Whitley met the victim on a dating app and the couple had been together for a couple of months.
Police were first called by a friend of Whitley’s, who reported that she had heard him confess to murder. In 911 calls obtained by The News & Observer, the friend told the dispatcher, “My friend just called me. He murdered his girlfriend and then switched to FaceTime…and she’s laying on the floor.”
Investigators haven’t released specific details about how Lowe was killed, but officers who responded to the apartment found Whitley barricaded inside, WTVD reported. He eventually surrendered to the authorities.
Prosecutors told WNCN that Whitley has a previous conviction in Texas for assaulting a family member.
Whitley remains in the Durham County jail, where he is being held without bond. No future trial dates have been scheduled.
