CLEVELAND — A woman facing charges for allegedly stabbing a person in a Cleveland Heights church because they were wearing fur clothing pleaded not guilty in court Friday morning.
Meredith Lowell, 35, is charged with attempted murder, felonious assault, two counts of aggravated burglary and one count of burglary, according to Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas records.
Lowell pleaded not guilty to the charges. She is currently being held at the the Cuyahoga County Jail in lieu of a $250,000 bond.
The attack happened at the Fairmount Presbyterian Church on Nov. 20.
According to authorities, Lowell walked into the church and allegedly stabbed a woman multiple times before children’s choir practice. When police responded to the church, the female victim was on the floor, surrounded by blood, holding the left side of her body.
A church staff member and parishioner managed to subdue Lowell by pinning her to the ground. Officers said that they found a yellow kitchen knife next to Lowell.
Just hours before the attack, Lowell had been found not guilty by reason of insanity for threatening a woman with a knife because she was wearing a fur coat.
Lowell’s has a history of documented mental illness and her fixation on fur dates back to at least 2012, according to court records. A federal grand jury indicted Lowell on solicitation for murder charges after she allegedly used a library computer to solicit a hit man on the internet who would be tasked with killing people wearing fur clothing.
Lowell is scheduled to appear in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas on Dec. 16 for a pre-trial hearing.
