NEW BRUNSWICK, New Jersey (WABC) — The suspect accused of murdering a Sayreville councilwoman appeared in court Wednesday in Virginia ahead of his extradition.
Dwumfour was fatally shot inside his car on Feb. 1 after dropping someone off in Sayreville.
Four months later, Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, of Portsmouth, Virginia, was arrested 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 is also affiliated with Champion Royal Assembly Church in Newark, which was his current church.
“This is something that is upsetting to the family as we speak right now,” said family attorney John Wisniewski.
The counselor had traveled to Virginia in her role as a pastor on mission trips. His colleague on the Sayreville Council and also a pastor says Dwunfour had been mentoring Bynum in his work as a pastor and helping him get on the right path.
“He also went to Bible studies pretty consistently when he was passing through,” said Sayreville Counselor Christian Onuoha. “He always came across as very calm, quiet, reserved.”
Dwunfore convinced Bynum to spend more time in New Jersey and her family agreed, but the spirit guide ended in 2018 and no one knows if the councilwoman and her alleged killer stayed in touch.
“I just remember being in the services and always saying that he was blessed with what he was hearing, what he was learning and he wanted to apply it to his personal life,” Onuoha said.
Eyewitness News reporter Anthony Johnson spoke with a cousin of the suspect, who said Bynum had been receiving spiritual guidance from missionaries in New Jersey. He adds that Bynum had psychological problems and the family thought the church would help him get on the right path. They can’t believe he’s now a murder suspect.
A fellow pastor says Dwunfour gave his heart to anyone who needed help.
“Anyone who really interacted with her, whether it was in church service or public service, knew that she was very passionate and very self-sacrificing and I would say that was also her relationship with Bynum,” Onuoha said.
Investigators may not have a motive for this killing, but surveillance footage shows Bynum fleeing the scene after the shooting, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said.
Ciccone says a cell phone belonging to Bynum indicated a trip from Virginia to New Jersey at the time of the murder. Bynum’s search history contains questions about what type of ammo works for his gun.
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 amount of arrests will bring the late councilwoman back,” Ciccone said.
Although Dwumfour was a Newark native who still has family there, she lived in Sayreville as a single mother. She had just recently married a pastor who lives in Nigeria
“There are no words that can make you whole,” said Attorney General Matthew Platkin, addressing his relatives in the courtroom. “I didn’t know Eunice. I wish I did. But I know she was a public servant.”
Dwumfour, 30, was the first elected official to be killed in New Jersey in recent memory.
Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick is glad the family of Dwumfour and Sayreville have more information about the tragedy as they move toward justice.
“I’m so relieved that the cloud that was over Sayreville right now, wondering who would hurt this beautiful woman, came into our community to do it, and now at least someone is in custody,” Kilpatrick said.
Bynum is awaiting extradition to New Jersey, where he will be held at the Middlesex County Adult Correctional Facility.
RELATED | The family of slain NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour is speaking out for the first time
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