The Clayton County mother found stabbed to death in her bedroom, while two kids were tied up in her home, may have been killed days before she was found, police said Tuesday.
The woman's boyfriend, 33-year-old William Nazario, has been charged with murder, according to his arrest warrant. Nazario was taken into custody Monday evening in Bartow County, where he was found at a hotel with one of his girlfriend's children. He is expected to be returned to Clayton County, but police have declined to say when Nazario will be moved.
Arrest warrants state that Nazario allegedly fought verbally and physically with Korean Bowden on Friday. Nazario allegedly has admitted to police that he stabbed Bowden and tied up two of her children to prevent them from seeing what he had done, the warrant states. Bowden's 12-year-old daughter told police her mother's boyfriend tied her up Friday and tried to rape her the following day.
It was a pastor's instinct to stop by Bowden's home Monday morning that led police to the gruesome discovery. Pastor Jean Ward told the AJC he stopped by the home because neither he nor Bowden's family could get in contact with her.
Ward said the home, on Lexington Court near Riverdale, was locked, but he spotted Bowden's 12-year-old daughter through a back window of the home. The girl, whose feet were bound with zip ties, recognized Ward and let him inside the house, where he found a 4-year-old girl tied up in a bathtub. The 4-year-old's hands and feet were also bound with zip ties, and both girls had duct tape over their mouths, according to the warrant.
Ward called police, who found Bowden in the home's master bedroom. She had been stabbed multiple times and her ears were missing, the warrant states.
Although two children had been tied up in the home, a third child, a 9-year-old girl, was missing, police said. A statewide alert was issued to find the girl, who was found unharmed with Nazario hours later near Acworth.
All three girls are currently in protective custody are in good condition, family members have said. But details from the girls, included in Nazario's warrant, depict horrific details.
The 12-year-old, whose name was not released, told police Nazario picked her up from school Friday afternoon. Nazario allegedly took the girl home and tied her hands behind her back and duct taped her mouth before locking her in a closet, the girl told police.
On Saturday, Nazario allegedly let the girl out of the closet and told her "You can take this like a woman or I’ll kill you," the girl told investigators. Police say he then tried unsuccessfully to rape her before he put her back in the closet.
The girls also said Nazario slammed her head against a wall, the fireplace and a fish bowl during the ordeal.
When he was being questioned, Nazario told police he had stabbed Bowden seven or eight times and then put the weapon on the back porch in a trash bag. Investigators have recovered the knife.
A confession letter was also found in Bowden's room.
Family members said Tuesday they had tried unsuccessfully to get Bowden to separate from Nazario. But Bowden had wanted to work through the couple's problems.
"I feel like now maybe I should've said something," Bowden's sister, Jonquil Taylor, told Channel 2 Action News.
Ward, the pastor of Power of Faith Christian Center in Lithonia, told the AJC he had counseled the couple for about a year.
""I advised her that he had a violent spirit," Ward said. "They broke up, they got back together. I advised them that they weren't ready to be together at all."
Please return for updates.
About the Author
