Coral Springs, Florida, Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was shot and killed on Wednesday, April 1.
According to preliminary elements of the investigation, domestic violence is suspected to be at the root of the killing.
Coral Springs police confirmed they have arrested the victim’s husband, Stephen Bowen, who is the primary suspect. According to Caribbean Television Network, Bowen is reportedly of Jamaican descent.
Nancy Metayer Bowen, 38, was an environmental scientist, first-generation American of Haitian descent, and a recognized advocate for Haitian and immigrant communities in South Florida.
Coral Springs Police Chief Brad Mock said at a 5:45 p.m. press conference that officers discovered Metayer Bowen’s body at her home after conducting a welfare check at approximately 10 a.m. Police did not disclose the cause of death but confirmed the case is being investigated as a domestic violence incident.
According to Florida Politics, a friend of Metayer Bowen tried to reach her by phone on Wednesday but was unable to. The friend then called Stephen Bowen, who reportedly sounded suspicious, prompting the friend to contact the police.
After discovering the body, officers issued an alert for Stephen Bowen, who had already fled the residence. Plantation license plate readers detected his vehicle traveling along SR 7/U.S. 441. The Broward County Sheriff’s Office subsequently apprehended him at a friend’s home at the Landmark Towers apartment complex in Plantation.
A Pioneer in Public Service
Metayer Bowen received significant recognition for her unrelenting fight on behalf of the Haitian community and all Coral Springs residents.
She won her seat on the Coral Springs Commission in 2020, becoming the first Black and Haitian American woman elected to the panel. In 2024, she was re-elected unopposed. In November 2025, fellow commissioners appointed her to serve a second one-year term as vice mayor.
Metayer Bowen graduated from Florida A&M University and earned a master’s from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She began public service with internships in federal agencies and worked on Haiti relief before joining the Broward County government.
She spent approximately 2 years working on relief efforts in Haiti before joining Broward County government as a program manager for the Junior Sustainability Stewards Program. In 2017, she was elected to the Broward Soil and Water Conservation District.
On the Coral Springs Commission, she served on several committees and backed economic development, small business, youth programs, housing, and public safety.
In 2024, former President Joe Biden and later former Vice President Kamala Harris tapped her to serve as their presidential campaign’s Florida Caribbean Vote Director. That same year, she drew national attention as one of the first elected officials to publicly challenge then-Vice Presidential candidate JD Vance over false claims that Haitian immigrants were eating pets in Ohio.
In March 2025, the Florida Democratic Party named her Vice Chair of Haitian American Voter Engagement.
Sources told REDBROWARD that Metayer Bowen had reached out to local politicians earlier this week about a potential run for U.S. Congress.
An Outpouring of Grief and Outrage
Commissioner Joshua Simmons described the loss as devastating. “She truly cared about people. My soul is heavy, my heart is broken,” he said.
City Manager Catherine Givens called Wednesday “a very dark day for us in Coral Springs.”
Florida Democratic Party Chair Nikki Fried recalled meeting Metayer Bowen days earlier, calling her “a scientist, environmentalist, barrier-breaker, and a friend to all who believed in fighting for democracy.”
State Rep. Dotie Joseph said Metayer Bowen “always showed up for the Haitian community from which she hailed.”
House Democratic Leader Fentrice Driskell called the killing “beyond horrific” and said Metayer Bowen’s legacy “reverberates throughout our state.”
Sen. Rosalind Osgood said she was “shocked” and called Metayer Bowen “a model of public service and a tireless advocate for Broward and the Haitian American community.”
A Family Already Marked by Tragedy
The Metayer family has endured devastating loss in recent months. In December, Metayer Bowen’s 26-year-old brother, Joshua, died by suicide after a years-long battle with schizophrenia. He was a survivor of the Feb. 14, 2018, mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
Metayer Bowen had celebrated her second wedding anniversary with Stephen Bowen in a November 2024 Instagram post.
The investigation remains active and ongoing.
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 (SAFE).
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Source:Florida Politics
Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen killed in shooting, husband in custody
