The 19-year-old charged in the fatal stabbing of Fall River teen and UMass Dartmouth football player Marvins Antoine is a Nigerian national who had been in the United States illegally as a B-2 visa overstay and has no confirmed Social Security number, according to federal law enforcement sources and court records.
Federal sources told Fox News that Chukuwnonso Uzoma-Eze had been shielded from deportation after the Biden administration granted his request for deferred action in 2022. He applied again in 2025, and the Trump administration approved it, again delaying deportation. According to Boston.com, court records filed in New Bedford District Court also state police were unable to confirm a Social Security number for him.
Uzoma-Eze pleaded not guilty Monday afternoon in New Bedford District Court to a fugitive from justice charge. He was ordered held without bail and waived his right to an extradition hearing. He is expected to be transported to Rhode Island later this week to face a murder charge. A status hearing is scheduled for September 28.
According to Boston.com, a police report filed in New Bedford District Court said Uzoma-Eze told police he had previously attempted suicide and asked, “Can you just shoot me?” Police took him to a community behavioral health center and later to Saint Luke’s Hospital and Bridgewater State Hospital, court records show.
Providence Police Chief Oscar Perez announced charges Saturday afternoon after Antoine was stabbed to death. Police said a stabbing occurred shortly after midnight in the parking lot of the Wendy’s on Charles Street following an altercation at Mezzo Lounge.
Two men were stabbed. Antoine, 18, of Fall River, suffered stab wounds to the chest and was pronounced dead at Rhode Island Hospital. Kensley Macean, 19, of Dighton and a Dighton-Rehoboth High School graduate, sustained non-life-threatening injuries to the head, neck, and left arm and was also taken to Rhode Island Hospital. Both were UMass Dartmouth football players.
Uzoma-Eze is a UMass Dartmouth student but is not on the football team. Police said they identified him through witness interviews, surveillance video, and license plate readers after he left the area in a vehicle. He was arrested on the UMass Dartmouth campus Saturday morning and held over the weekend pending extradition to Rhode Island.
Chief Perez said the dispute began as an altercation involving a female and people in line at Mezzo Lounge, which police described as overcrowded with the doors closed. The fight then moved across the street to the Wendy’s parking lot at 391 Charles Street around 12:30 a.m. Authorities have said there was no indication the parties knew each other.
Antoine and Macean had been at the lounge with teammates after UMass Dartmouth’s Friday night home loss to Framingham State, 23-21. Antoine, a freshman running back who wore No. 26, had been a standout at Durfee and Atlantis Charter and was nominated last year for the Otto Graham Award.
Students held a campus vigil where they released balloons and chanted Antoine’s number.
Providence’s Board of Licenses ordered Mezzo Lounge closed for 72 hours after the incident and has still remained closed.
A GoFundMe created for funeral and related expenses had raised more than $30,000 as of this writing.
Providence Police detectives continue to work with UMass Dartmouth Police and other law enforcement partners as the investigation continues.
