Tragic Family Horror in New Orleans: Nigerian Man Stabs 75-Year-Old Father to Death, Wounds Two Sisters in Shocking Domestic Attack
A quiet evening in a New Orleans neighborhood shattered into nightmare on November 11 when a 29-year-old Nigerian man allegedly turned a kitchen knife on his own family, fatally stabbing his 75-year-old father and leaving his two sisters fighting for their lives—exposing the devastating toll of untreated mental illness in immigrant households.
As Nigerian stabs father US grips headlines, this New Orleans family stabbing tragedy spotlights mental illness domestic violence horrors and Nigerian diaspora crime amid US immigrant family attack fallout. Chukwuebuka Eweni now faces charges of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder after surrendering at a mental health facility, where relatives say he sought routine care unaware of the bloodbath he’d unleashed. For the tight-knit Nigerian community in Louisiana’s Crescent City, the loss of beloved professor Samuel Eweni—a pillar of Southern University at New Orleans (SUNO)—rips open wounds on family bonds strained by cultural pressures and healthcare gaps.
The attack unfolded around 9:59 p.m. in the 8000 block of Pebble Street, a leafy residential pocket in eastern New Orleans where the Eweni family had built a life far from their Nigerian roots. NOPD Seventh District officers, responding to frantic 911 calls of an “aggravated battery by cutting” flagged as domestic, burst into the home to a gruesome scene: Samuel Eweni Sr., unresponsive on the floor with at least one deep stab wound to his torso, and his two adult daughters—believed to be in their 20s and 30s—clutching bleeding gashes from multiple strikes. Paramedics rushed the sisters to University Medical Center, where one was discharged by Wednesday with superficial wounds, while the other lingered in stable condition, expected to pull through after surgery. Samuel, however, was pronounced dead at the scene despite desperate CPR efforts—his death later confirmed by the Orleans Parish Coroner’s Office pending full autopsy.
Chukwuebuka Eweni, born September 23, 1996, in Nigeria and a U.S. resident for over a decade, vanished post-attack, only to resurface at New Orleans East Hospital—his go-to spot for voluntary mental health check-ins. Unbeknownst to staff, he’d allegedly grabbed a household knife during a routine family dinner, lashing out in what relatives describe as an inexplicable frenzy. “It was a normal evening… we don’t know what triggered him,” a tearful cousin told WWL-TV reporters outside the taped-off home, flanked by sobbing community members bearing candles and Nigerian flags. Hospital records show Eweni’s history of schizophrenia and bipolar episodes, treated sporadically since his teens, but family insists he’d never turned violent before—often checking himself in proactively to avoid crises.
Arrested Wednesday morning after police traced his phone to a Jefferson Parish psych ward, Eweni faces life in prison if convicted; Louisiana’s second-degree murder statute carries no death penalty but mandates hard time without parole. NOPD’s warrant affidavit paints a chaotic prelude: Neighbors reported muffled screams and a “thud” around 10 p.m., but the Eweni home—modest brick with a manicured lawn—had always seemed idyllic, hosting barbecues and Igbo cultural nights. Samuel, a soft-spoken computer science prof at SUNO since 1995, mentored dozens of Black and immigrant students in coding and ethics, his office a hub for free tutoring. “He was our rock—came to America for us, built everything,” one former student eulogized on a makeshift memorial blooming with lilies and yams.
SUNO’s administration, reeling from the loss, issued a somber statement: “Professor Eweni’s dedication to education touched countless lives; we mourn a giant whose legacy endures in every line of code he inspired.” Experts like Dr. Nkechi Okoro, a psychiatrist at Tulane University specializing in diaspora mental health, contextualize the horror: “Untreated psychosis in high-achieving immigrant families is a silent epidemic—stigma silences pleas for help, and access barriers amplify risks.” She cites stats: African immigrants face 40% higher schizophrenia rates due to genetic factors and migration stress, yet only 25% seek U.S. care amid fears of deportation or family shame.
Social media erupted in grief and debate. On X, #JusticeForSamuelEweni trended globally, with Nigerians abroad venting: “Another brother lost to the system—mental health funding now!” one Lagos expat posted, amassing 15K retweets. Nairaland forums dissected cultural angles—”Our parents sacrifice everything, only for silence on illness to destroy us”—while U.S.-based Naija groups rallied $20K in hours for the sisters’ recovery and Samuel’s repatriation to Enugu for burial. Critics decried media sensationalism, but survivors’ advocates like RAINN praised the quick arrests, urging: “This underscores domestic violence’s invisible scars—screen for mental health in every call.”
For Nigerian-Americans—over 400,000 strong in the U.S., per Census data—this New Orleans family stabbing strikes at the heart of the American Dream’s underbelly. Families like the Ewenis, who fled economic woes for opportunity, grapple with isolation: 60% report delayed mental health access versus natives, per NIH studies, fueling a 15% uptick in diaspora violence cases since 2020. Economically, Samuel’s death yanks a $100K+ salary from SUNO’s payroll, rippling through local tutoring programs and remittances back home—$25 billion annually from Naija migrants. Lifestyle-wise, it shatters the “model minority” facade, pushing churches and NA groups to launch 24/7 hotlines, while politically, it amps calls for Biden’s stalled immigrant psych grants amid 2026 midterms.
As mental illness domestic violence shadows this Nigerian diaspora crime saga from the US immigrant family attack, Eweni’s court date looms December 5, with pleas for compassion amid charges. Yet in Pebble Street’s vigil flames, one truth flickers: Healing starts with breaking silence—before knives claim more dreams.
By Mark Smith
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