Damian Bowden

A Bowling Green man pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to several crimes in connection with his daughter’s stabbing death, avoiding a trial that was due to begin in October.

Damian Bowden pleaded guilty to charges of murder, two counts of theft by unlawful taking, tampering with physical evidence and abuse of a corpse.

Bowden, 52, acknowledged causing the death of Daquanna Bowden, 30, of Bowling Green, at his residence in Payton Landing Apartments on Scottsville Road.

Daquanna Bowden’s body was found Sept. 9, 2022, in the bathroom of the apartment, and an autopsy revealed that she had received multiple stab wounds.

Bowden was allowed to enter an Alford plea to the abuse of a corpse count.

In an Alford plea, a defendant does not admit wrongdoing to a particular charge but does acknowledge that enough evidence exists for a jury to find the defendant guilty.

At Monday’s hearing, Bowden answered a series of questions from Warren Circuit Judge J.B. Hines indicating that he had all the time he needed to discuss his case with his attorney, Eric Clark of the Department of Public Advocacy, and was voluntarily pleading guilty.

Clark gave a brief recitation of the facts of the case supporting a guilty plea, saying that Daquanna Bowden’s body was found wrapped in shower curtains and that Damian Bowden had taken his daughter’s vehicle, which law enforcement found in Tennessee with a backpack containing about $10,000 in cash inside.

Damian Bowden accepted a plea agreement recommending a 30-year prison sentence while also dismissing an unrelated case charging him with second-degree possession of a controlled substance, tampering with physical evidence and public intoxication.

The Warren County Sheriff’s Office investigated Daquanna Bowden’s death, which occurred days after her father was arrested on suspicion of assaulting her.

Deputies were called out to Damian Bowden’s apartment on Aug. 23, 2022, regarding a domestic dispute, which resulted in his arrest on a charge of fourth-degree assault, to which he pleaded guilty and was given a five-day jail sentence.

Bowden was released from jail on Aug. 27, 2022.

According to prior court testimony, Bowden returned to his apartment and was seen on surveillance video footage leaving the complex in his daughter’s 2010 Volkswagen Tiguan SUV.

Damian Bowden’s cellphone pinged to cell towers at Greenwood Lane, Shive Lane and Campbell Lane later that morning, and video footage captured him entering and exiting a Walmart that morning as well, according to prior testimony from WCSO Detective Vedad Hadzikadunic.

From there, the cellphone pinged off towers in Cross Plains, Tennessee, and Nashville on that afternoon.

Hadzikadunic testified in Warren District Court in 2022 that Damian Bowden claimed to have been attacked when he opened the door to his apartment after walking home from jail, and that he stabbed Daquanna Bowden “two or three times.”

“He also said he had to walk all the way home from jail, which he said took him 3 1/2 to 4 hours, and that he may have been upset because (his daughter) was still in the apartment,” Hadzikadunic said while testifying at a 2022 preliminary hearing.

Daquanna Bowden’s SUV was found unoccupied in Nashville on Sept. 23, 2022, and brought to Bowling Green.

WCSO detectives executing a search warrant for the vehicle found Damian Bowden’s phone, ID, apartment key, medications and wallet, as well as Daquanna Bowden’s ID, Hadzikadunic said.

Detectives also seized two knives from the apartment and found Daquanna Bowden’s purse and phone there. A backpack containing about $10,000 was also found in the SUV, according to a complaint warrant.

Hines set Damian Bowden’s sentencing for Sept. 30.