CORAL SPRINGS, Fla. — Tributes poured in on Wednesday and Thursday for Coral Springs Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen, who police said was shot and killed by her husband in a suspected domestic violence incident. He’s now facing a murder charge.
The commissioner, thought to be a rising star in South Florida politics, was being remembered by state and local leaders as a trailblazer.
U.S. Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Florida, said in a post to social media platform X he was “in shock” to learn of her death.
“I was just with her on Saturday. She just buried her brother. She was about to announce she was running for Congress,” the congressman, whose district includes Coral Springs, said. “Nancy was one of the nicest people I worked with. Always fighting for her community, always pushing to help. She had such a future. This is terrible.”
U.S. Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Florida, a candidate for governor, also paid tribute on the platform.
“Heartbroken to learn of the tragic loss of Vice Mayor Nancy Metayer Bowen,” Donalds said. “Praying for her family, loved ones, and the Coral Springs community during this devastating time. May justice be swift, and may her memory be a blessing.”
Metayer Bowen, the city’s first Black and Haitian American female commissioner, was elected in 2020 and reelected in 2024 and appointed to serve a second, one-year term as vice mayor in November, according to her biography on the city’s website. She was an environmental scientist and before serving as a commissioner she led environmental justice efforts across Florida with a focus on community resilience.
Commissioner Joshua Simmons, following a news conference on Wednesday, said Metayer Bowen “led on environmental sustainability” in the city. Just days before her death, she was out in the community hosting an Easter egg hunt for families ― a snapshot, colleagues said, of how hands-on she was.
“She cared about students, seniors, the environment, fairness, equality and her culture,” Simmons said.
Metayer Bowen also served as the vice chair of the Florida Democratic Party. In a statement, Party Chair Nikki Fried remembered hugging Metayer Bowen at a leadership summit two weeks ago, “never imagining it would be one of our last moments together.”
“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,” Fried said. “Above all, Nancy was my friend and a friend to everyone who has ever believed that democracy was worth fighting for. The world is less bright without her in it.”
In a statement, Metayer Bowen’s family said, “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.”
Copyright 2026 by WPLG Local10.com - All rights reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.
