Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen killed; husband charged with murder
UPDATE: Stephen Bowen, the husband of Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, was arrested Wednesday, April 1, and charged with premeditated murder. Bowen was being held in the Broward County main jail on charges of premeditated murder and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
The original story continues below.
Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was found dead Wednesday morning in an apparent domestic violence incident, according to Police Chief Brad Mock.
Her husband, 40-year-old Stephen Bowen, is a suspect and is in police custody, Mock said during an April 1 news conference.
“My heart is extremely heavy,” Commissioner Joshua Simmons said. “My soul is heavy. My heart is broken.”
Metayer Bowen had missed the Coral Springs City Commission meeting and a charter school board of directors meeting in the morning, prompting a welfare check to her home at around 10 a.m. When officers arrived, they discovered her body.
Investigators declined to disclose her cause of death, saying more information would be available at a later time. There are no other suspects at this time.
“That was our battle buddy. She had such a good heart,” Simmons said. “She truly cared about people, even when people were saying some of the most horrible things about her and us, she still cared. Rolled up her sleeves. Went to every event that she could go to because she truly cared about people and making sure people had a relationship with their elected officials.”
Mock thanked the Broward Sheriff’s Office, the Fort Lauderdale Police Department and the Plantation Police Department for their assistance.
Metayer Bowen’s family shared a statement on social media describing her as “a source of strength, wisdom and love — someone who always put others before herself.”
“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.”
Metayer Bowen, the first Black and Haitian American female commissioner in Coral Springs, was elected to her first term in 2020 and was re-elected in 2024. She was an alum of Florida A&M University and the Vice Chair of Haitian Outreach for the Florida Democratic Party.
The organization’s chair, Nikki Fried, mourned Metayer Bowen’s loss, describing her as 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.”
Coral Springs City Manager Catherine Givens said the city would keep her light going.
“To say today is a very dark day for us in Coral Springs, is an understatement,” Givens said. “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. What’s worse is the tremendous grief that her family must endure.”
Metayer Bowen was a rising political star who was set to launch a Congressional bid for the seat held by Rep. Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick on Thursday, according to people familiar with the matter.
“I can’t believe I have to talk about her in past tense,” South Florida Muslim Federation (SFMF) President Samir Kakli told the Coral Springs News. “It feels like we lost a sister.”
Metayer Bowen was a vocal supporter of diversity in Coral Springs, especially during the controversy over the Muslim conference that happened in the city earlier this year.
“Despite being so young, she was such an incredible leader,” SFMF communications director Jay Shehadeh said.
Metayer Bowen’s 26-year-old brother died in December following a years-long struggle with schizophrenia. He was a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland.
This story was originally published April 1, 2026 at 5:14 PM.
