Rashid Ali Bynum (left) was arrested for the homicide of Sayreville Metropolis Councilmember Eunice Dwumfour (Image: AP)
A person was arrested for the mysterious killing of a New Jersey councilwoman over 4 months in the past.
In 2021, Eunice Dwumfour made historical past when she turned the primary black lady ever elected to metropolis council in Sayreville, New Jersey. However simply two years later, she was gunned down exterior her dwelling in a taking pictures that remained unsolved for months.
On Tuesday afternoon, prosecutors introduced that they had lastly arrested a suspect within the case, who was recognized as Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, of Portsmouth, Virginia.
Bynum was taken into custody with out incident exterior a house in close by Chesapeake Metropolis, Virginia. He will probably be extradited again to New Jersey, the place he’ll face costs of first-degree homicide and possession of a handgun for illegal objective.
Rashid Ali Bynum’s contact was saved in Eunice Dwumfour’s telephone below the acronym FCF – a reference to a church she beforehand belonged to (Image: AP)
‘This was a really advanced, in depth case with painstaking police work,’ Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone mentioned at a press convention.
In February, the shooter fired 12 rounds into Dwumfour’s automotive in broad daylight, a number of of which hit her.
A number of witnesses within the neighborhood noticed the taking pictures, and one was capable of get a great take a look at the shooter. They described him as a ‘skinny black male,’ with ‘ear-length braids or dreads,’ Ciccone mentioned.
Investigators had been capable of determine Bynum after they tracked a cell phone touring throughout state traces. Surveillance video and witness statements matched Bynum to a white automotive that travelled forwards and backwards between Virginia and New Jersey that very same day.
However the shooter’s motive stays unclear, irritating Dwumfour’s family and friends. John Wisniewski, an lawyer representing Dwumfour’s household, mentioned there have been ‘much more questions at this time than there have been earlier than.’
‘A search of the sufferer’s telephone revealed Bynum as a contact, with the acronym FCF,’ Ciccone mentioned. ‘FCF is believed to be an acronym for the Hearth Congress Fellowship, a church the sufferer was beforehand affiliated with, which can be related to the Champions Royal Meeting – the sufferer’s church on the time of her dying.’
A search of Bynum’s telephone revealed that on the day of the homicide, he searched the web for extra details about the church. He additionally looked for details about what magazines had been suitable together with his handguns, Ciccone mentioned.
Investigators additionally mentioned that Dwumfour and Bynum additionally attended the identical bible research class, which is hosted in a storefront on Broad Road in Newark.
‘The truth that it was linked to that element of her life is much more saddening to me since you look to God for mild and safety,’ former Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick mentioned. ‘So to know that that was the connection hurts, however on the identical time, evil can lurk anyplace.’
Dwumfour was a 30-year-old mom of an 11-year-old daughter. She had just lately married Peter Ezechukwu, a Nigerian pastor affiliated together with her church within the nation’s capital of Abuja.
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