Tomeka Kamwani (Lakiecha Brooks via NJ.com).
A New Jersey man allegedly ignored a court order and murdered his ex-fiancee, a mother of four, before he turned the gun on himself.
Family members identified the victim as 41-year-old Tomeka Kamwani in a GoFundMe. The Woolwich Township Police Department responded in the early morning hours of March 28 to a home in the 300 block of Broad Street for a shooting. When they arrived they found Kamwani shot to death and the suspect who has not been publicly identified also deceased from an apparently self-inflicted gunshot wound.
NJ.com reports the suspect entered Kamwani's home and shot her three times. Two of her children were at home during the shooting but were not injured, per the outlet.
The suspect was reportedly arrested in February for punching her in the face but a judge later released him on bond. Kamwani had obtained a restraining order — which he allegedly ignored — about a week before he was arrested for assaulting her, according to NJ.com. But despite violating the restraining order and his arrest, a judge reportedly denied a prosecutor's request to keep him in jail until trial.
A prosecutor said he punched Kamwani in the face, refused to leave her home and threatened to kill her if she called police.
"She claimed that the defendant laughed and said she needs to put more locks on the door and showed her a card that he used to break into the residence," the prosecutor said, according to a recording of the bond hearing obtained by NJ.com.
In the end, the judge reportedly allowed the suspect to post bond with conditions that he not contact Kamwani.
From a GoFundMe account description that's raising money for the victim's children:
On Saturday, March 28, our community lost a beautiful soul, Tomeka P. Kamwani (Brooks), to domestic violence. A loving mother, daughter, sister, and friend, Tomeka's life was taken far too soon, leaving behind the center of her world, her four children: Gavyn, Aiden, Bryson, and Ava. Tomeka was the kind of mother who poured everything into her children. They were her joy, her purpose, and the reason she showed up every single day with strength and love. Anyone who knew her knew how deeply she adored them.
Kamwani's family held a vigil in her honor last week.
"It's a shame he had to do that. That's about all I can think about: Why would he want to do that? People break up," her aunt Barbera Brooks Faltz told local NBC affiliate WCAU. "We thought he was a good person and when this happened, I couldn't believe it and I still don't want to believe it."
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