Pennsylvania man arrested, charged with murder after two women killed in Willingboro home invasion
A Pennsylvania man was arrested days after a mother and daughter were shot and killed in a home invasion in Willingboro, New Jersey.
Junior Edwards, a 37-year-old Lansdowne man, is in custody and charged with two counts of murder, home invasion burglary while armed with a firearm, endangering the welfare of a child and other charges, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia Bradshaw's office announced.
Investigators believe early on the morning of Wednesday, Oct. 30, Edwards smashed through a first-floor window and broke into a home on Harrington Circle in Willingboro's Hawthorne Park section. Inside, he shot 33-year-old Catherine Nunez and her mother Marisol Nunez, 54, multiple times.
Edwards and Catherine Nunez had an 8-year-old son who was home during the shootings but was not hurt, Bradshaw's office said.
On Friday, Edwards was presented with warrants for the two homicides. He was already in custody in Philadelphia on other unrelated charges.
Break-in, killings set neighbors on edge
On the first block of Harrington Circle, neighbors who knew about the incident were frightened, despite suspicions the mother and daughter were targeted.
"It's very scary for me because I know everybody on this street, so we don't want anything like that to happen," neighbor Charlee Harris told CBS News Philadelphia's Brandon Goldner. "For this to happen, it's overwhelming."
Willingboro police arrived on the scene Wednesday morning for a reported burglary before investigators found the Nunezes in the home. The neighborhood planned a vigil Saturday night to honor the two.
Multiple agencies outside Burlington County assisted in the investigation including the FBI Trenton Greater Safe Streets Task Force, the Lansdowne Police Department, and the Philadelphia Police Department Violent Crimes Task Force.
