Overview:
Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer-Bowen was shot and killed in a domestic violence case that has shocked all who knew or worked with her publicly. Authorities charged her husband, Stephen Bowen, with premeditated murder and evidence tampering after he allegedly shot her dead in their bed, slept in the house and then tried to hide the weapons in another town.
Authorities on Thursday charged the husband of Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer-Bowen with her murder after they found her shot dead inside the couple’s master bedroom.
Stephen Bowen, 40, faces charges of premeditated murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence, according to jail records. He is being held at the Broward County Main Jail with no bond on the capital offense charge. Court records do not list an attorney who could comment on his behalf.
“The South Florida community, Florida [overall] took a huge hit today,” said Santra Denis, executive director of the Miami Workers Center and close collaborator Metayer-Bowen’s.
“Nancy was remarkable in that she was a community organizer and a legislator that held equity at the center,” Denis said. “She really believed in people. She really had integrity, was honest, and people trusted her. I trusted her leadership and I think a lot of people felt in good hands with Nancy. ”
Wednesday afternoon through Thursday, tributes began pouring in for Metayer-Bowen, whose political prominence led to the Kamala Harris presidential campaign tapping her to lead voter mobilization efforts. Most recently, whispers of her running for Congress had also begun to make the rounds, though nothing was confirmed.
“He really robbed us,” said Gepsie Metellus, the now-former executive director of Sant La, whose leadership development program had selected Metayer-Bowen as a participant.
“She was working hard, doing good work – and we never imagined that she was living in this personal hell.”
For an elected official, Metayer-Bowen kept a relatively low-key profile and gave no one in public any indication of alarming issues in her home life. Even as her younger brother, Donovan Joshua Leigh Metayer, a survivor of the Parkland high school mass shooting, struggled with mental health issues and then died by suicide in December, she continued to serve diligently.
Given her focus on others, the current spotlight on what transpired inside her house has rocked those surrounding her that much harshly.
‘Wellness check’ leads to gruesome discovery, charges for husband
According to the police affidavit, colleagues of Metayer-Bowen in Coral Springs, a city in northwest Broward County, became concerned when she failed to attend a scheduled commission meeting to discuss city business. Numerous texts sent to her went unreturned.
When a colleague texted Bowen, the husband wrote back that he had tried his wife’s phone too and she didn’t pick up.
When police went to the home at around 10 a.m. to check on Metayer-Bowen, no one answered. A neighbor said they last saw the wife walking a dog around midnight the evening prior. They also saw signs of recent damage to the property, as though someone had busted pieces of wall and stucco.
Meanwhile, Bowen went to his uncle’s house in Plantation.
“His nephew came to this house at about 10:00 to 10:15 a.m. and told him that he did something to her, meaning [Nancy Metayer], and that she was not alive,” according to the police affidavit.
“Stephen Bowen explained that he had shot her three times with a shotgun the previous night and then slept downstairs,” the relative told police. “When asked why, [Bowen] said that ‘he couldn’t take it anymore.’”
Bowen then left and sought help to hide the weapon he used.
The uncle called police, and officials in various nearby cities tracked down and began following Bowen’s Ford F-150. They saw him hand over a bag used to carry firearms to another man, who later told police they were Masons. That acquaintance told police Bowen tried to remove his tag and made.
As surveillance got underway, police obtained a search warrant to enter the house in the 800 block of Northwest 127th Avenue. Shortly after 2 p.m., they entered.
Inside, laying in her master bedroom on the second-floor master bedroom, police officers saw the 38-year-old town official, whom they knew. She laid in the bed, lifeless.
Wrapped in the blankets with the body were three spent shotgun shells. Police also saw a pillow with burn marks and a string, “as if it were fashioned as a makeshift silencer,” and a wound on Metayer-Bowen’s left shoulder.
Later, police arrested Bowen in Plantation, another Broward County town about 12 miles south of Coral Springs.
Stephen Bowen’s jail record as of April 2, 2026 via Broward Sheriff’s Office.
Environmentalist and community organizer turned politico
Questions arose immediately about the couple as the news spread. On social media, several accounts belonging to the couple showed them out and about at events and outings. Both had posted images from their wedding recently, as they celebrated the three-year-mark of their marriage.
A recent post by Metayer-Bowen read, “Three years of building, dreaming, and loving each other through everything.”
Prior to the marriage, Metayer-Bowen had built a reputation for herself as an environmental scientist and community organizer who rose quickly through the ranks of South Florida politics. She was among four Sant La Fellows who went on to seek office after completing the community leadership development program. She was first elected to the Coral Springs Commission in 2020 and re-elected in 2024, later being appointed vice mayor in 2025.
Metayer-Bowen also played a role in national politics, advising Democratic campaigns on Caribbean voter outreach, including during Harris’s bid for the presidency, and serving as vice chair of Haitian American voter engagement for the Florida Democratic Party.
Recently, as Florida Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick came under investigation for ethics violations and alleged criminal activities, Metayer-Bowen’s name was floated as a possible replacement for the congressional seat.
All the while, she lent her expertise to other groups, such as being a board member to Avanse Ansanm, the voter education and mobilization organization, and member of NHAEON, the association of Haitian elected officials.
“Nancy was the prototype,” Metellus said. “She was everything we would want for all of our children in this community, particularly those children that are called to play a civic or elected leadership role.
“To have her robbed from us like this is just unspeakable,” she said.
In the hours after she was found dead, shockwaves went through the Haitian diaspora and broader community political circles.
In a statement, the City of Coral Springs honored Metayer-Bowen’s legacy and service to the community.
“Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer served the residents of Coral Springs with passion, integrity and a strong commitment to building a better future for all,” the statement said. “Her leadership reflected a deep belief in community, service and stewardship, and her contributions will continue to leave a lasting mark on our city.”
On her social media pages, community members had begun posting tributes and prayers to Metayer-Bowen.
On Metayer-Bowen’s Facebook page, a family statement shared gratitude for the outpouring of condolences and privacy to grieve.
“She was not only a cherished member of our family but also a dedicated public servant who committed her life to improving the lives of others,” the family said.
“Throughout her years in public office, she led with integrity, compassion, and an unwavering sense of purpose,” the statement continues. “She believed in bringing people together, listening to those she served, and working tirelessly to create positive change in her community. To us, she was a source of strength, wisdom, and love — someone who always put others before herself.”
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