CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was found dead on Wednesday after police said she was killed in a “domestic violence incident.” Her husband, Stephen Bowen, was taken into custody.
Police said in a news conference Wednesday that officers found her body after conducting a welfare check at her home, in the 800 block of Northwest 127th Avenue, at around 10 a.m. Wednesday.
Video from Sky 10 showed several police vehicles, including a mobile command center, and crime scene tape at Metayer Bowen’s home.
In Plantation, cellphone video shows law enforcement swarming an apartment complex, where sources tell Local 10 they caught up with the vice mayor’s husband and took him into custody.
“We just heard a big bang and I said, ‘Oh my God, is that gunshots?’” a witness told Local 10 News. “We looked out the window and we see SWAT cars, cop cars, just everything everywhere -- guns drawn.”
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Metayer Bowen, elected to the city commission in 2020, was described in her official city biography as the first Black and Haitian American woman to serve as a Coral Springs commissioner.
She was an environmental scientist by trade and held degrees from Florida A&M and Johns Hopkins universities.
‘Tireless advocate’ mourned
Condolences began pouring in from several elected and appointed officials on Wednesday evening, including one of Metayer Bowen’s colleagues on the dais.
During Wednesday’s news conference, fellow Commissioner Joshua Simmons described Metayer Bowen was his and other commissioners’ “battle buddy”, saying the city government is now “incomplete.”
“She led on an environmental sustainability here in the city,” Simmons said. “She led the push to get a sustainable officer, sustainable department here. Joined international organizations dedicated to environmental sustainability. She was leading the charge on the solid waste authority or trying to get the solid waste authority started here in Broward County.”
“My soul is broken,” he said.
City Manager Catherine Givens called Wednesday “a very dark day for us in Coral Springs is an understatement,” saying that “there are no words that can truly capture the depth of this loss or the pain this organization and community are now dealing with as a result of this senseless tragedy.”
“Vice Mayor Metayer gave so much of herself to our city,” Givens said. “She wasn’t just a leader. She was the light in every room that she entered. She was a steady voice in difficult times, a compassionate soul who lifted others up and a friend to so many. Our hearts are truly broken.”
Broward County Mayor Mark Bogen also released a statement, saying “We are deeply saddened by the loss of Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen. She served her community with dedication and heart, and the impact of her dedicated public service will be felt across Broward County. Our thoughts are with her family, colleagues, and the Coral Springs community during this difficult time.”
In a statement, State Rep. Dotie Joseph, D-North Miami, described Metayer Bowen in part as a “tireless advocate for her community and a public servant who genuinely cared about people” and who “fought and cared for the residents” of Coral Springs.
“She always, always showed up for the Haitian community from which she hailed,” Joseph said.
Former Tamarac Commissioner Mike Gelin said he was “shocked and deeply saddened” by her death. He said Metayer Bowen worked as his legislative aide.
“She was a trailblazer, becoming the first Black and Haitian American woman elected in Coral Springs, and her impact will be lasting,” he said. “Keeping her family and loved ones in my prayers. Rest in power.”
Finally, those who knew her most, her family, released a statement, saying “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. Her legacy will live on not only in the policies she helped shape, but in the countless lives she touched.”
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