Killer pastor jailed for life

Ghanaian pastor, Sylvester Ofori, who made headlines for the wrong reasons after shooting his wife to death has been jailed for life in the US after a jury found him guilty for first-degree murder.

Lawyer for the convicted pastor had tried to ascribe his actions to mental illness but the court established that he was sane and deserved to be jailed for life for the crime.

Sylvester Ofori, 39, was the pastor and leader of Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries in Orlando, Florida.

He shot his estranged wife, Barbara Tommey, 27, when she reported for work at the Navy Federal Credit Union on Garden Parks Boulevard in September 2020. The two were in the process of filing for divorce and prior to the shooting, he had told the brother of Barbara when he accompanied her to pick her stuff from the house that he would kill his estranged wife. “Call me fake if I don’t kill your sister,” a video footage caught him saying to Barbara’s brother. In the said video, the brother asked that the police be involved but Barbara could be heard declining the involvement of the police in the matter.

Excerpts of a statement from Jason Gunn, Public Information Officer for the Orange-Osceola State Attorney Andrew Bain, said:

“Multiple credit union employees and customers witnessed the shooting. 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.

“Orlando Police Department detectives spoke with Ms. 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. They positively identified Ofori on the surveillance video. Detectives obtained an arrest warrant and arrested Ofori at his apartment.”