Stephen Bowen faces first-degree murder charges after allegedly shooting his wife, Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, three times with a shotgun in their home. Police say he used a pillow to muffle the blasts before going downstairs to sleep. The incident came to light when Metayer Bowen missed a city commission meeting.
Coral Springs police arrested Stephen Bowen on Thursday following the discovery of his wife's body in their home. According to the probable cause affidavit, Bowen shot Nancy Metayer Bowen three times with a shotgun on Wednesday night. Officers noted he wrapped her body in a blanket with three spent shell casings and used a pillow, marked with burn marks, as a makeshift silencer. After the shooting, Bowen went downstairs and slept, leaving her upstairs, police said. A relative who received a bag containing a rifle from Bowen called 911, reporting Bowen's admission that he had shot his wife because he 'couldn't take it anymore.' She was 'not alive,' Bowen told the relative, per the affidavit. Police had begun welfare checks after Metayer Bowen missed a commission meeting Wednesday morning and did not respond to messages. Officers first visited the home around 10:20 a.m. but found no one answering and no vehicles present. They later spotted damage on the second floor suggesting a projectile impact. Metayer Bowen, elected to the Coral Springs commission in 2020 and reelected in 2024, was serving her second term as vice mayor since November. She was the first Black and Haitian American on the commission and served as vice chair of the Florida Democratic Party. Florida Democratic Chair Nikki Fried mourned her, saying, 'Nancy was not simply our Vice Chair of Haitian Outreach. She was a scientist. An environmentalist. A brilliant barrier-breaker... The world is less bright without her in it.' Police have not disclosed a specific motive beyond Bowen's statement.
