Husband Of Slain South FL Vice Mayor Accused Of Murdering Her: Reports

CORAL SPRINGS, FL — The husband of Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was arrested in connection with her death, multiple reports said.

Stephen Bowen, 40, was charged with premeditated murder and tampering with evidence after his wife was found dead at their home in the 800 block of Northwest 127th Avenue on Wednesday morning, NBC Miami said.

Officers found the vice mayor’s body around 10 a.m. while checking into her “well-being,” city officials told the South Florida Sun Sentinel.

She was found shot to death in what is being investigated as a domestic violence incident, Florida Politics reported.

Her husband was arrested after fleeing Coral Springs for Plantation, where he was taken into custody at the Landmark Towers apartment complex, reports said.

An environmental scientist, the 38-year-old leader was a first-generation American and the first Black and Haitian-American woman elected to sit on the Coral Springs City Commission.

In addition to serving as vice mayor of Coral Springs, Nancy was also vice chair for the Florida Democratic Party.

"While many knew her as a leader and advocate, we knew her as a sister, a daughter, and a friend whose warmth and laughter filled every room," the family said in a statement posted to her Instagram page. "Her legacy will live on not only in the policies she helped shape, but in the countless lives she touched."

The city of Coral Springs also mourned the loss in a statement posted to social media.

“We are heartbroken to share that Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer has died. She was more than a public servant, she was a light in our community. Her leadership was grounded in compassion, strength, and an unwavering commitment to others. Her impact on Coral Springs is immeasurable, and her loss leaves a void in our hearts,” city officials said in the post. “We ask our community to keep her family, loved ones, and all who are grieving in your thoughts and prayers. In this difficult time, we stand together as one city. We will carry her light, even in this darkness.”

Florida Democratic Party chair Nikki Fried honored the loss of her friend and colleague.

“Nancy was not simply our Vice Chair of Haitian Outreach. She was a scientist. An environmentalist. A brilliant barrier-breaker who made history as the first Black and Haitian-American woman elected to the Coral Springs City Commission. A Vice Mayor who showed up every single day for the people she served. She loved her community deeply and believed, with every fiber of her being, that a better and more equitable future was possible for all of us,” Fried said in a statement. “Above all, Nancy was my friend and a friend to everyone who has ever believed that democracy was worth fighting for. The world is less bright without her in it.”

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