Man arrested in murder of NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was someone from her church: Police
Police say Bynum knew Dwumfour from a church she was previously affiliated with, which also is associated with Champion Royal Assembly Church in Newark, which was her current church. Derick Waller reports.
Man arrested in murder of NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was someone from her church: Police
NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (WABC) -- As investigators reveal more information about the suspect in the murder of a Sayreville councilwoman, the community is left wondering "why?"
Dwumfour was fatally shot inside her car on Feb. 1 after she dropped someone off in Sayreville.
Four months later, Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, of Portsmouth, Virginia, was taken into custody on Tuesday morning just before 11 a.m.
Police say Bynum knew Dwumfour from Fire Congress Fellowship (FCF), a church Dwumfour was previously affiliated with, which also is associated with Champion Royal Assembly Church in Newark, which was her current church.
"That is something that is vexxing the family as we speak right now, family attorney John Wisniewski said.
Investigators may not have a motive for this murder, but surveillance footage shows Bynum running from the scene after the shooting, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said
Ciccone says a mobile phone belonging to Bynum indicated travel from Virginia to New Jersey at the time of the murder. Bynum's search history contains questions about what kind of ammunition works for his handgun.
The suspect was charged with first-degree Murder, second-degree Unlawful Possession of a Handgun, and second-degree Possession of a Handgun for an Unlawful Purpose.
"The murder has shaken the community and no arrest will bring back the late councilwoman," Ciccone said.
Though Dwumfour was a Newark native who still has family living there, she was living in Sayreville as a single mother. She had just recently married a pastor who lives in Nigeria
"There are no words that can be said to you to make you whole," Attorney General Matthew Platkin said, addressing her relatives in the room. "I did not know Eunice. I wish I had. But I know that she was a public servant."
Dwumfour, 30, was the first sitting elected official to be killed in New Jersey in recent memory.
Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick is glad Dwumfour's family and Sayreville have more information about the tragedy as they move toward justice.
"I am so relieved that the cloud that was in Sayreville right now, wondering who would hurt this beautiful woman, would come into our community to do this, and now at least somebody is in custody," Kilpatrick said.
Bynum is awaiting extradition to New Jersey where he will then be held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional facility pending a pre-trial detention hearing in Superior Court.
RELATED | Family of murdered NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour speaks out for 1st time
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Source: WABC-TV
