A Nigerian professor has been killed in New Orleans by his 27-year-old son, who also injured his two sisters during a sudden and unprovoked attack last Tuesday.
Police arrested the suspect, Chukwuebuka Eweni, after relatives reported that he had grabbed a knife without warning and attacked his father, Professor Samuel Eweni, along with his siblings.
Family members told 4WWL Louisiana that Eweni had a long-standing but undisclosed mental health condition, although he had never previously shown violent tendencies.
They said the evening had seemed entirely ordinary until the outburst, and they remained unsure about what triggered it.
Professor Eweni, a respected academic in computer sciences at Southern University, New Orleans, was pronounced dead at the scene.
The university’s chancellor, Joseph Bouie, paid tribute to him as “a mentor and a guiding light” to generations of students.
One of the injured sisters has since been discharged from hospital, while the other is still receiving treatment but is expected to recover.
Following the attack, Eweni reportedly went to New Orleans East Hospital, where he had previously sought mental health support, to check himself in.
Unaware of the incident, staff are said to have transferred him to another facility in Jefferson Parish. Police later located him there and arrested him the next morning after obtaining a warrant.
According to investigators, Eweni has been charged with one count of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted second-degree murder.
He is currently undergoing medical evaluation.
