Delaware County man charged with murder in death of 8-year-old son's mother in Willingboro

A Delaware County man has been charged with killing the mother of his 8-year-old son and the woman's mother during a break-in at their Willingboro home, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and deputy Capt. Ian Bucs said the Willingboro Township safety director announced Saturday.

Junior Edwards, 37, of Lansdowne, was charged with two counts of murder, as well as burglary and weapons possession, authorities said. He was arrested Friday in Philadelphia on unrelated charges, authorities said.

Edwards is accused of fatally shooting Catherine Nunez, 33, and her mother, Marisol Nunez, 54, authorities said. Both were shot multiple times and found in an upstairs bedroom of their home in the Hawthorne Park neighborhood of Willingboro, authorities said. They were pronounced dead at the scene.

A son shared by Edwards and Catherine Nunez was home at the time of the shooting but was not physically injured, authorities said. Edwards was charged with endangering the welfare of a child. The child was turned over to the state Division of Child Protection and Permanency, according to Joel Bewley, a spokesman for the district attorney's office.

A possible motive for the shootings has not been disclosed. Edwards and Catherine Nunez had not been in a relationship for some time, Bewley said.

Police were dispatched to the home in the first block of Harrington Circle around 4 a.m. Wednesday by a 911 call from Catherine Nunez for a report of a burglary in progress, Bewley said. According to authorities, the burglar broke a second floor window and entered the home. Authorities said a handgun believed to have been used in the killings was found outside.

Edwards is being held in Pennsylvania, Bewley said. The Burlington County prosecutor plans to seek his extradition to New Jersey on murder charges, he said.