Overview
- Jurors found Stearns guilty of second-degree murder, abuse of a dead human body, and tampering with or destroying evidence.
- Deliberations lasted about three hours following a five-day trial, according to the State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit.
- Prosecutors said he arranged to meet Howery, shot her in the head, dismembered her, and burned and buried her remains in an area west of Palm Bay known as the Compound.
- Investigators reported K9 alerts to human decomposition, skull fragments, a fingertip matching Howery, and shovels in Stearns’ truck that linked him to the disposal sites.
- Howery, 44, was reported missing on Feb. 18, 2023, her vehicle was found the next day, and deputies arrested Stearns in March after placing him under surveillance.