Resolved case
Convicted
Indian Harbour Beach, Florida
•
2023-02-15
•
girlfriend
Homicide-by-Firearm
Dismemberment-and-Concealment
Non-Exclusive-Relationship-Violence
Jealousy-Motive
The-Compound-Palm-Bay
Life-Sentence-Conviction
Mother-of-Two
How to use this case file
Readers often arrive looking for the victim name, the case, the suspect, or the location. This page is meant to help you understand the memorial story, the documented timeline, and the verified public record in one place.
Browse the full case archive, explore the warning signs index, see the cross-case timeline, or find domestic violence support resources.
Victim summary
This summary layer helps readers understand the person, the known case posture, and the documentary shape of the file before moving into the fuller reporting.
Case snapshot
- Victim: Nancy Howery
- Relationship: girlfriend
- Offender: Stearns
Location and dates
- City: Indian Harbour Beach
- County: Pending
- State: Florida
- Incident date: Pending
- Date of death: 2023-02-15
Case status and outcome
This section summarizes the court posture and procedural outcome that readers most often search for.
Status
- Case status: Convicted
- Conviction status: Convicted
- Source strength: 6 linked sources
Charges and sentencing
Charges: Second-Degree Murder with a firearm, Abuse of a Dead Human Body, and Tampering with or Destroying Evidence
Court monitoring
This section reflects core court-tracking details only when they are available in the public case record.
Warning signs and risk factors
These markers help readers connect a single case to broader patterns of coercive control, escalating abuse, and missed intervention points.
Life, memory, and case context
Nancy Howery was a 44-year-old resident of Indian Harbour Beach, Florida, and a devoted mother to her two children. Her life was deeply integrated with her family, maintaining a consistent co-parenting custody schedule with her ex-husband, Todd Howery. Known to her friends and family as a loving, dependable person, her sudden failure to pick up her children from school on February 15, 2023, immediately alerted her loved ones that something was terribly wrong. She is remembered by those who knew her for her warmth and her absolute commitment to her children.
Fatal incident and reported circumstances
On February 15, 2023, Nancy Howery met with Daniel Stearns in an effort to smooth over their volatile, on-and-off relationship. The two drove to "The Compound"—a sprawling, remote, and undeveloped grid of paved streets in Palm Bay—under the guise of a handgun lesson. While at the isolated site, an argument occurred. Stearns drew a handgun and shot Howery once in the head, killing her. To hide the crime, Stearns dismembered her body, burned the remains, and scattered them across multiple shallow burial sites throughout "The Compound."
Aftermath and case developments
Following Nancy's disappearance, her ex-husband reported her missing on February 18, 2023. Her abandoned minivan was recovered by police. Law enforcement launched a physical and aerial surveillance operation against Stearns. On March 9, 2023, investigators observed Stearns traveling back and forth to "The Compound" and the C-54 Canal, actively attempting to dig up, burn, and re-bury her scattered remains to evade discovery. He was arrested on March 10, 2023.
A forensic anthropologist and K9 teams painstakingly searched "The Compound," recovering small, charred bone and tissue fragments that confirmed her identity and the fatal gunshot wound. Stearns' trial, dubbed the "Scattered Remains Murder Trial," took place in October 2025. The defense did not call witnesses and tried to suggest Howery committed suicide, but the jury rejected this, finding Stearns guilty on all counts on October 6, 2025. On December 3, 2025, Stearns was sentenced to life in prison. At the sentencing hearing, Todd Howery delivered an emotional victim impact statement on behalf of their children, describing the permanent void left in their lives.
Prevention context
This case highlights how high-risk arguments can become when there is a gun involved, especially in an isolated area like "The Compound" where help is miles away. Stearns' extreme jealousy over Nancy wanting to date other people was a major warning sign that escalated into severe violence. The lack of any prior police reports or protective orders suggests that much of the volatility in their two-year relationship happened behind closed doors, leaving family and friends without a clear opportunity to step in before it was too late.
Court records and public filings
Public filings, police reports, court dockets, and related records help establish what is documented, what remains disputed, and where warnings were recorded.
News Article
FL v. Daniel Stearns: Scattered Remains Murder Trial
verified
FL v. Daniel Stearns: Scattered Remains Murder Trial
Open public record
Additional evidence and source material
Some materials do not fit neatly into one category but still belong in the documentary record of the case.
News report
Florida man convicted of killing, burning girlfriend's body sentenced to life in prison
Daniel Stearns, 32, was sentenced to life in prison for murder.
Stearns was convicted in October of shooting and killing his girlfriend Nancy Howery and hiding her remains.
Howery's ex-husband spoke at the sentencing on Dec. 3.
verified
Florida man convicted of killing, burning girlfriend's body sentenced to life in prison
Open related material
News report
Man killed dating app girlfriend for not 'following his relationship rules,' then left police with 5 crime scenes to clean up
verified
Man killed dating app girlfriend for not 'following his relationship rules,' then left police with 5 crime scenes to clean up
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News report
Prosecutors Convict Palm Bay Man for Killing, Dismembering Beachside Mom
verified
Prosecutors Convict Palm Bay Man for Killing, Dismembering Beachside Mom
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