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Authorities release court documents concerning arrest in Dwumfour slaying

The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, killed Republican Sayreville Council Member Eunice Dwumfour.

Matt Trapani

May 31, 2023, 9:56 AM

Updated 553 days ago

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Court documents pertaining to the arrest of the man accused of killing a Sayreville council member have been released.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office alleges that Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, killed Republican Sayreville Council Member Eunice Dwumfour. A motive for the killing remains unclear.
Bynum had a detention hearing in Virginia Wednesday morning. He is expected to be extradited to New Jersey within days. He is currently in custody at a jail in Chesapeake, Virginia, where he was apprehended. He has been charged with first-degree murder and two weapons charges.
Authorities say they have recovered a gun they believe to be the murder weapon.
Bynum had a criminal history, including possession of marijuana and carrying a concealed weapon in Virginia in 2015, along with carrying a handgun on his personal four years ago.
Documents revealed that Bynum is unemployed, indigent and is now being represented by a criminal public defender because he can't afford a lawyer.
Law enforcement officials say that Dwumfour was ambushed outside her apartment on Feb. 1 while she sat inside her SUV. She was shot multiple times.
A person was seen running from the scene, and authorities say a suspicious white Hyundai seen parked nearby was called into police. It is believed to be the suspect’s rented vehicle.
Police used E-ZPass and cellphone records to narrow their search and match up the time frame to connect Bynum with the crime.
Bynum appears to have known Dwumfour through Fire Congress Fellowship, an offshoot of Dwumfour's church - Champions Royal Assembly. It is possible that Dwumfour mentored Bynum for a time.
News 12 New Jersey has looked for the accountant of that nonprofit at his Union Township office, but he has not been there recently. Incorporation paperwork shows that Dwumfour started Fire Congress with members of her church, but her husband, Peter Ezechukwu, was not on that paperwork.
Police recently debunked a theory that the killer escaped via the Garden State Parkway by saying the rented Hyundai was parked on a side road a short distance away.
News 12 went to the home of Fire Congress official Osi King, which was the same complex where Dwumfour lived, just a couple of months ago. The tenant who answered the door said he was new and had moved in just a month and a half ago.
Authorities say Bynum had made Google searches of the Fire Congress Fellowship and searched for firearms magazines compatible with handguns prior to his trip to New Jersey.