In the quiet early morning hours of October 30, 2024, a tragic event shattered the peace of a Willingboro, New Jersey neighborhood. Marisol Nunez, a 54-year-old woman, was killed alongside her 33-year-old daughter, Catherine Nunez. The two women were found in an upstairs bedroom of their home on Harrington Circle in the Hawthorne Park section of the township. Responding to a 4 a.m. call for a burglary in progress, police made the grim discovery. An autopsy would later confirm that both mother and daughter died from gunshot wounds.
Investigators determined that the perpetrator had gained entry to the residence by breaking a first-floor window. The initial belief by law enforcement was that the attack was not random, and that the women were targeted, though a specific motive was not immediately clear.
The assailant had fled the scene before police arrived, prompting a thorough investigation by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office and the Willingboro Township Police Department.
The violence of that morning also unfolded in the presence of Catherine's eight-year-old son, who was in the house at the time of the attack but was physically unharmed. A handgun, believed to be the weapon used in the killings, was later discovered outside the home. The community was left shaken, with neighbors expressing their fear and sorrow over the violent loss of the two women they knew from friendly waves and seeing them tend to their gardens.
Days later, an arrest was made in connection with the double homicide. Junior Edwards, a 37-year-old from Lansdowne, Pennsylvania, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, home invasion, and other related offenses. Authorities identified Edwards as the father of Catherine Nunez’s young son. He was taken into custody in Philadelphia on unrelated charges before being charged with the murders of Marisol and Catherine. The investigation pointed to the incident being a case of domestic violence. In the wake of the tragedy, family and community members gathered for a candlelight vigil to remember Marisol, a hotel worker who often came from New York City to babysit her grandson, and Catherine, a devoted mother.
