A Brevard County man was convicted Monday of second-degree murder for the shooting death of a woman he had dated who was found burned and dismembered in an unincorporated part of rural Palm Bay.

Jurors took three hours to come back with a guilty verdict for Daniel Stearns, 35, of Palm Bay in the 2023 death of Indian Harbour Beach mother Nancy Howery, according to a press release from the State Attorney’s Office for the 18th Judicial Circuit.

Stearns was charged with second-degree murder, abuse of a human body and tampering with or destroying evidence, with verdict coming after a five-day trial.

In February 2023, he and the 44-year-old Howery were dating, but he was upset that she wouldn’t date him exclusively, according to the release. Evidence showed Stearns arranged to meet Howery, sh

See Full Page