Police have arrested a 28-year-old man in connection with the murder of a New Jersey councilwoman who was shot 14 times in the car outside her home in February. Rashid Ali Bynum, of Portsmouth, Virginia, was taken into custody Tuesday and charged with first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, and second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose.
Eunice Dwumfour (pictured), 30, was brutally gunned down after she dropped someone off in Sayreville on February 1. Friends called it a ‘targeted and personal attack.’ She crashed her SUV and was found slumped over the wheel.
From Bynum’s phone records, law enforcement discovered ties between him and the Newark Chapter of Nigerian-based Champions Royal Assembly Church, where Dwumfour is said to have worked with Bynum prior to her death. Though Dwumfour was a Newark native and has family there, she was living in Sayreville as a single mother. She had recently married a pastor who lives in Nigeria.
Witnesses at the time of the fatal shooting said they saw a white vehicle nearby. Law enforcement said they pinpointed Bynum’s phone and car, a white Hyundai Elantra, using cellular tower extraction records, the New Jersey Globe reported. Bynum became acquainted with Dwumfour in 2017 when he lived in the Skytop Gardens Apartments in Parlin.
Phone records also tie Bynum to the Champions Royal Assembly Church, the Parlin-based Fire Congress Fellowship, and mutual contacts with Dwumfour.
According to the outlet, records show that Bynum also has outstanding warrants for failure to appear on four summonses connected to a June 2019 traffic stop in Cranbury. He had been stopped for making an illegal U-Turn and then received a summons for driving with a suspended license and other violations.
The FBI has been involved in the investigation along with Sayreville police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office, but have released few details about the investigation.
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.
In the early stages of the investigation, some neighbors told police that they’d seen Dwumfour speaking to a man outside her car on security footage just before the shooting.
Dwumfour married pastor Eze Kings (pictured together on wedding day), who lives in Nigeria, just before Thanksgiving, and lived in the apartment with her 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Pictures from her wedding day show how happy the mother-of-one was, grinning next to her new husband.
Kings posted on Facebook about the loss of his bride after the shooting by wishing her a happy birthday in advance. ‘4th March is your birthday happy glorious birthday in addy my love.’ ‘Addy’ is Nigerian slang for the word advance. He accompanied the post with several photos of the couple’s wedding, which Dwumfour had celebrated in an Instagram post on December 7.
Alexandra Bryan, a neighbor who lived close to where the shooting happened, told the New York Times that she heard what she had initially thought were fireworks twice just after 7 pm. ‘Two times, right after one another,’ she said. ‘Like five seconds apart. It’s a really nice complex,’ Bryan added. ‘Children are able to play around without parents. It’s always quiet. That’s why it’s such a shock to everybody.’
Dwumfour was found inside her white Nissan SUV with multiple gunshot wounds on Samuel Circle just before 7.30pm. Friend and pastor Nelia Rodriguez told The Ingraham Angle she believes the incident was a ‘personal attack.’
She added: ‘We believe it [was] very personal because she was shot seven times in the face and another seven shots were hitting everywhere else. So for somebody to get so close to somebody and shoot them so many times, it has to be personal.’ Dwumfour ousted the sitting Democrat in the Borough of Sayreville in November 2021, in a shock election win, and was not up for reelection until 2024.
A friend told DailyMail.com that she and her family had just returned from Nigeria on a church trip – describing her as ‘bubbly and nice.’ Family members told USA Today that she lived at the property with her 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship. Her sister Priscilla said: ‘She was always happy, very humble and had respect.’
Friends of the councilwoman previously paid tribute to her as an ‘amazing friend’ who ‘loved god.’ Detective Juan Rodriguez and Pastor Doctor Nelia Rodriguez posted online saying: ‘I just saw her this morning at the store. I remember saying to her I’ll see you at the HRC meeting tomorrow not knowing tonight was going to be the end of her life. I can’t stop crying. She was 30 years young and full of life. You will be missed my dear, precious friend.’
Dwumfour was a Certified Business Analyst and Scrum Professional for Fire Congress Fellowship inc. and a part-time EMT. She graduated from William Paterson University and served as a Director of Churches for the Nigerian-based Champions Royal Assembly.
In a statement Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick said: ‘The community is shocked and saddened at the loss of Eunice Dwumfour, who was a dedicated member of our Borough Council who was truly committed to serve all of our residents. The fact that she was taken from us by a despicable criminal act makes this incident all the more horrifying.’ Sayreville Republican Chair Karen Bailey Bebert added: ‘We remember Eunice for how she lived, not for how she died. She was the embodiment of Sayreville, living the American Dream, overcoming challenges with grit and a smile. And always giving of time and love to others. She embodied Sayreville and will be terribly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her.’
Governor of New Jersey Phil Murphy added that he was ‘stunned’ by her murder and branded it an ‘act of gun violence.’ He told WNYC there was ‘little known’ about the motivation for the incident which ‘does not appear to be related to her potion as an elected councilwoman in Sayreville.’