A father from Pennsylvania was taken into custody on Friday and accused of fatally shooting the mother of his young son and the boy’s grandmother after breaking into their home in New Jersey, as reported by prosecutors.
Junior Edwards, 37, allegedly committed the tragic double homicide early Wednesday morning while his 8-year-old son was present in the Willingboro Township residence, according to the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
Edwards, a resident of Lansdowne, faces two counts of first-degree murder and other charges in connection with the shooting deaths of 33-year-old Catherine Nunez, who shared a child with the suspect, and her 54-year-old mother, Marisol Nunez.
Both women sustained multiple gunshot wounds and were declared dead at the scene in an upstairs bedroom.
Edwards allegedly entered the home by breaking a first-floor window around 4 a.m. on Wednesday, prosecutors stated.
The child was present during the shooting but was unharmed.
The handgun believed to be used in the murders was discovered outside the residence, according to the prosecutor’s office.
No motive for the attack was disclosed by authorities, but the family of the victims claimed that Edwards had threatened them on multiple occasions.
“The American dream turned into an American nightmare,” Wilson Nunez, Marisol’s brother and Catherine’s uncle, told the Courier Post.
Catherine would travel to New York City once a week for work, and her mother, Marisol, would care for the child overnight on those occasions, a family member shared.
“This loss has left our family devastated, and it’s a reminder of how fragile life can be,” the family mentioned in a GoFundMe page set up to collect funds for funeral expenses.
Edwards is also charged with home invasion burglary with a firearm, unlawful possession of a weapon, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose, and endangering the welfare of a child.
He was faced with these charges while already detained on unrelated charges in Philadelphia.
