Police have identified the victim of a weekend murder in Benton Harbor. Public Safety Chief Dan McGimnnis tells WSJM News 38-year-old Novena P. Mathis of Benton Harbor was found dead in her car on at Hayward Wells Apartments on Sunday. The suspect, 38-year-old William “Coonie” Edwards of Benton Harbor, was quickly identified and arrested in Kalamazoo later. A warrant for open murder and some gun charges has been authorized against him, and he’s still being held in Kalamazoo County. McGinnis tells us Mathis and Edwards had been in a relationship for about 20 years and shared two children. He adds there was a history of domestic violence in the relationship. An autopsy performed on Mathis Tuesday confirmed the cause of death as a gunshot.
