ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. –A man has been found guilty here of shooting and killing his wife outside a credit union as she arrived for work.
Following a three-day trial, Sylvester Ofori, 39, was found guilty of first-degree murder with a firearm in the death of 27-year-old Barbara Tommey, whom he shot several times as she arrived for her shift at a branch of Navy Federal Credit Union on Garden Parks Boulevard on morning of Sept. 8, 2020, the Orange-Osceola State Attorney’s Office said.
Ofori, a pastor at Flood Gates of Heaven Ministries in Orlando, has been sentenced to life in prison. According to the Orlando Sentinel, Ofori has called himself a prophet and motivational speaker, and his Facebook page had more than 60,000 followers and the church’s page had about 5,600 at the time of the shooting.
Divorce Was Under Way
As CUToday.info reported earlier here, Ofori and Tommey were in the process of filing for a divorce and had been estranged for about three months when the shooting occurred.
According to the office of Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, Tommey’s brother was among nearly a dozen people who testified for the state, including credit union employees and members who witnessed the shooting firsthand.
Numerous Witnesses
“Multiple credit union employees and customers witnessed the shooting,” ClickOrlando.com said. “Credit union officials provided Orlando Police detectives with surveillance video. Ofori was seen on video arriving at the credit union and parking his vehicle. He was caught on camera following Ms. Tommey as she ran away from him. The video showed Ms. Tommey frantically knocking on the credit union door and Ofori pistol-whipping and shooting her. He shot her three more times after she fell to the ground.”
According to the Orlando Police Department detectives spoke with Tommey’s family members and co-workers, who verified previous domestic violence incidents between the couple and their recent separation. They also said Ofori threatened to kill the victim two days before the shooting, the report said.