CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. (CBS12) — Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen was set to announce a run for Congress this week; instead, the community gathered Friday to mourn her tragic death.
Her husband, 40-year-old Stephen Bowen, whom she married in 2022, was subsequently charged with her murder after shooting and killing her in their home on Wednesday, according to previous reports.
According to CBS12 News partners at the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the week was supposed to be a milestone for her career, as she had planned to announce a run for Congress.
Hundreds of mourners attended a candlelight vigil at City Hall, gathering around photos that displayed her as most of her friends remembered her — smiling.
Friends and community members gather for a candlelight vigil at Coral Springs City Hall to honor the life of Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen on Friday, April 3, 2026. (Jim Rassol/Contributor)
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“She just believed in people and wanted to make things easier, make life easier for people who were really struggling,” her friend Santra Denis told the Sun Sentinel.
Bowen is remembered as the first Black and Haitian-American woman to ever serve on the Coral Springs City Commission and as a dedicated “environmental nerd” who championed underserved communities.
The vigil was filled with orange and green, the colors of her alma mater, Florida A&M University.
“Nancy was an angel. Inside and out, beautiful. We miss her,” said Jay Jean-Louis if the Haitian American Democratic Club of Broward. “The family has raised a beautiful girl with beautiful principles, with hard work, with discipline, with love She was the inspiration of the community.”
State Representative Marie Woodson recalled their shared work ethic, stating, “We are Black, we are Haitian, we need to outwork everybody. And that’s what Nancy did!” U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz asserted that “Nancy would have won” her bid for Congress and vowed to honor her on the House floor.
According to CBS12 news partners at the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the vigil ended with a plea to carry on her legacy, as young leaders like Christel Louidor shared how Metayer Bowen “called purpose out of me.”
