Members Witnessed Murder of Navy Federal Assistant Branch Manager, Police Say

The day before Barbara Tommey was allegedly murdered by her husband Sylvester Ofori outside of a Navy Federal Credit Union branch on Sept. 8, he threatened to kill her during an argument that was recorded by Tommey’s sister, according to Orlando Police.

A recently released emergency arrest and search warrant revealed new details about the killing of Tommey, who was an assistant manager for Navy Federal’s Orlando branch. According to police, credit union members were witnesses to the shooting.

The sister, Jennifer Tommey, told police investigators that on Sept. 7, she recorded an argument between the estranged couple going through a divorce, in which Ofori allegedly threatened to kill her sister. The sister did not say why she recorded the argument.

“The defendant is seen in that video wearing the same shirt as the one seen in the bank’s surveillance footage during the murder,” according to the warrant.

When the shooting occurred just before 9 a.m. last Tuesday, numerous members were waiting for the branch to open.

Each of the witnesses told police that Ofori, brandishing a firearm, followed behind Tommey as she walked to the branch’s front door. She knocked on the doors to have someone inside the branch let her in because it was not yet open for business.

According to police reports, when he was within an arm’s distance, Ofori raised his hand that held the gun and fired it once, causing Tommey to collapse. After fixing a malfunction with his gun, Ofori fired additional shots into her as she lay defenseless on the ground, according to the police warrant.

One of the witnesses said Ofori walked to his car and drove out of the parking lot “as though nothing happened.”

To protect the witnesses, police did not identify them or reveal how many witnesses were interviewed.

Police later found Ofori’s car parked in front of his Orlando apartment that he once shared with his wife, where he was arrested and charged with first degree murder with a firearm.

He is being held without bond in the Orlando County jail.

YouTube videos showed that Ofori is identified as a senior pastor of the Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries on Coburn Avenue in Orlando. The videos also identified Ofori as a “prophet.”

The church’s Facebook page reportedly has more than 60,000 followers. The Facebook page content, however, is not available according to a Facebook message, which states that the page’s privacy settings may have been changed or the page has been deleted.

Ofori’s Twitter page has more than 200 followers. His tweets, however, are protected and are not listed.