Man Arrested And Charged In Murder Of Black New Jersey Councilwoman 4 Months After Her Death

By Melissa Noel ·Updated May 31, 2023

A Virginia man has been arrested for the murder of New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, who was shot and killed outside her home in February.

At a news conference on Tuesday, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone revealed that Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, who reportedly knew Dwumfour from church, had been arrested early that morning on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, and second-degree possession of a firearm for an unlawful purpose, CNN reports.

Dwumfour, a 30-year-old mother and church leader, was shot multiple times in her SUV outside her Sayreville home on February 1.

Bynum was listed as a contact in Dwomfour’s phone under the initials “FCF,” which investigators believe stand for “Fire Congress Fellowship,” a church to which the councilwoman had once belonged and “which was also associated with the Champion Royal Assembly, the victim’s church at the time of her death,” according to Ciccone.

Bynum allegedly looked up information about the Champion Royal Assembly church and the Sayreville neighborhood online on the day of the shooting, according to Ciccone. Ciccone also said that the days before the murder, Bynum reportedly also looked up whether magazines were compatible with a particular handgun online.

“There are no words that can be said to you to make you whole,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said to Dwumfour’s family, who were at the press conference. “I did not know Eunice. I wish I had. But I know that she was a public servant.”

“I hope that today is the beginning of a healing process and also the beginning of a sense of justice,” he added.

According to officials, Bynum is awaiting extradition from Virginia to New Jersey to face the charges. There is no known motive at this time, and no timeframe has been provided for court proceedings.