Former pastor who killed wife to challenge charge that murder was premeditated
Sylvester Ofori, a self-styled prophet and the former leader of Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries in Orlando, Florida, who fatally shot his estranged wife in 2020, has conceded that he killed her but will challenge the allegation that he premeditated the murder.
Christopher Smith, Ofori's defense attorney, told a local judge as jury selection for his trial began on Monday that his client will not admit that he premeditated the killing, WESH 2 reports, even though there are recordings of him threatening to kill his wife the day before.
"I can concede that the homicide took place. And Mr. Ofori committed the homicide, and Mr. Ofori caused the death of the deceased. I'm not going to concede premeditation," Smith said.
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Ofori, 39, is charged with first-degree murder for the shooting death of his wife, Barbara Tommey, on Sept. 8, 2020.
Police say Ofori, who had more than 60,000 followers on his now disabled social media, attacked Tommey, 27, just before 9 a.m. near the front door of her work at the Navy Federal Credit Union on the 4600 block of Gardens Park Boulevard.
Witnesses cited in an affidavit told detectives that Ofori was holding a gun and was following his wife as she walked toward the credit union. She knocked on the doors to get someone to let her in, but Ofori shot her once, and she collapsed a few feet away from her husband.
Ofori allegedly then walked over to her and shot her a few more times in the head. He then walked back to his rented Dodge Journey and drove away "as though nothing happened." His wife was pronounced dead at Orlando Regional Medical Center later that morning.
Tommey's sister recorded a fight between the estranged pair just a day earlier in which he promised to take her life, detectives confirmed.
"Can I promise you something? If I don't kill your sister, then I am fake," Ofori told his brother-in-law in a video posted on Facebook.
Police said the couple had been estranged and had not been living together for about three months before the murder.
On its website, Floodgates of Heaven International Ministries describes Ofori, born in Accra, Ghana, as "a powerful internationally known prophet of the Most High God."
"Prophet Ofori accepted God's sovereign commission for his life at an early age. He attributes his zeal for God to his parents, who instilled the fear of the Lord in the hearts of all five of their children. He and his three brothers are highly sought after crusade and revival speakers," the church said, citing his extensive spiritual gifts.
Prophet Elisha Salifu Amoako, founder and general overseer of Alive Chapel International in Ghana, told Adom FM that Ofori's actions were the result of a "calculated witchcraft attack" he had warned would happen.
"I visited them; his wife complained to me about their situation," Amoako said. "I spoke to them. I went to him on a different day and told him he should be careful, otherwise, he will kill his wife. Whatever has happened was caused by a spirit that is haunting the gentleman."
He argued that he knows Ofori to be a very sober man and the only explanation for his actions is "witchcraft."
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