Federal sources say the UMass Dartmouth student charged with murder after a fatal stabbing in Providence is a Nigerian national who entered the United States on a visitor visa in 2015.
Chukwunonso Uzoma David Uzoma Eze, aged 19, is accused of fatally stabbing Marvins Antoine outside the Mezzo Lounge in the early hours of 19 September. Antoine, an 18 year old first year running back for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth American football team, died from chest wounds after being taken to Rhode Island Hospital. A second first year player, Kensley Macean, suffered injuries that were not life threatening to the head and neck and was treated at the same hospital, police said.
Federal sources said Uzoma Eze entered the United States on 18 March 2015 at Boston Logan International Airport on a B2 visitor visa. He later received two approved extensions of his visitor status. One application was filed on 17 September 2015 and approved five months later. A second was filed on 18 March 2016 and approved in June 2016.
He later applied for deferred action, a discretionary decision by the United States government on whether a person may remain in the country or be removed. Federal authorities granted that application on 21 September 2022, sources said. Uzoma Eze applied for employment authorisation on 24 August 2023. That request was rejected on 25 September 2023.
On 10 February 2025 he filed two further applications. One was for employment authorisation based on deferred action and remains pending, the sources said. The second was another request for deferred action. It was approved on 8 October 2025 and is due to expire on 7 October 2027.
Uzoma Eze, who is also a student at UMass Dartmouth but is not a member of the American football team, was arrested by campus police after the incident and held by the Bristol County Sheriff’s Department in Massachusetts on a fugitive from justice warrant issued in Rhode Island. He waived extradition and was arraigned in Providence on 28 September on a murder charge. He was ordered held without bail. His lawyer has said he acted in self defence.
Police said the confrontation began in a queue outside Mezzo Lounge after the venue stopped admitting people because it was overcrowded. It then moved into a nearby Wendy’s car park on Charles Street. Officers said there is no indication that Uzoma Eze knew either Antoine or Macean before the altercation. A woman known to Uzoma Eze was involved in the initial dispute, according to police.
The university has expressed condolences to Antoine’s family, friends, classmates and teammates and wishes for Macean’s recovery. The nightclub was later ordered closed for a month. The investigation remains open and further charges may follow.
By A.Ikechukwu
