Family Of Slain Sayreville Councilwoman: We Want Answers

SAYREVILLE, NJ — On Wednesday, the family of slain Sayreville councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour held a press conference at Sayreville town hall, where they took questions from the media, revealed new details — and expressed their frustration with Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone for not releasing more information, or making an arrest yet.

"We know there is someone out there who knows what they have done," said the family's pastor, Karl Badu. "And our one goal is to find out who did this and hold them accountable. We want justice for Eunice."

Dwumfour's parents, Prince and Mary Dwumfour, are now represented by former Middlesex County assemblyman John Wisniewski. He said he remembers first meeting Dwumfour when she was sworn in as the first Black councilwoman to serve on the Sayreville town Council. A year later, he was "stunned" to hear she had been killed, on the very block where she lived.

It was 7:22 p.m. Feb. 1 when a masked gunman, dressed all in black, waited in the dark for Dwumfour, 30, as she drove home to her condo at the Camelot at La Mer complex in Sayreville. Her condo is on Check Avenue, and as she pulled her white Nissan SUV around the corner at the top of her street, Dwumfour stopped her car and appeared to say something to the man, said Wisniewski.

The gunman then fired multiple times directly at Dwumfour. Slain, she slumped over the driving wheel and her SUV rolled all the way down Check Avenue, crashing into several other cars parked at the bottom of the street. Video shows the man appearing to run off in the direction of the Garden State Parkway, which runs right next to her condo.

One of those cars she drove into is owned by neighbor Brenda Robertson.

"I was home. People came and got me. They said there had been an accident," said Robertson today, when this Patch reporter walked around the condo complex. "I came out and saw her. Her car door was open and she was over the steering wheel, her face down."

Dwumfour had a 12-year-old daughter and the girl was home at the time, on the third floor of their condo. The girl heard the gunshots — "pop, pop, pop" — and thought it was fireworks; she did not even go to look out the window, Dwumfour's father revealed Wednesday.

Moments later, Sayreville Police arrived at the condo complex, as did Dwumfour's parents, who live in Newark. It was Prince who told police he wanted to break the news to his granddaughter: Her mother had been shot multiple times, and was dead.

The girl started screaming and crying for her mother, he said Wednesday.

Dwumfour's mother stood beside her husband and emphasized that there was nobody the parents could think of who would want to hurt her daughter.

"I need justice for my daughter," said Mary Dwumfour as she broke down crying. "Please, God, help us."

"What could Eunice have possibly done to make someone want to take her life?" said Wisniewski. "Yes, she was feisty and she would tell you her mind. But she had no enemies."

"Who would hate Eunice? is the first question we asked ourselves,'" said the pastor.

Dwumfour and the girl's father had a split custody arrangement, said the family's pastor. The father lives in the area and the girl would go back and forth, "one week with Mom, one week with Dad," he said.

The girl is now splitting her time between being with her father and her grandparents.

The family described Dwumfour's relationship with her daughter's father as "a very good relationship; they were not arguing."

The man was not at Wednesday's press conference and the family said they do not know if he has been interviewed by Middlesex County detectives. They said they had not asked him.

The family also said they are "frustrated" they are not receiving more information from Prosecutor Ciccone. In fact, it was only at a March 7 meeting that Wisniewski arranged with the prosecutor that the Dwumfour family said they were interviewed by detectives. Dwumfour was killed Feb. 1 and police interviewed her daughter a week later, on Feb. 7.

Wisniewski said he volunteered his services to the Dwumfour family to serve as their advocate and get answers.

Prosecutor Ciccone continues to decline to publicly speak about the case, saying it remains under investigation.

Dwumfour's husband, Peter Ezechukwu — they just got married last November 2022 — was also at Wednesday's press conference. He said he was in Nigeria when he heard of his wife's death.

"Where I come from, they say if America wants something, it can get it. I don't know why information has taken so long to get out," he said.

He said that in long-distance phone calls between the couple, his new wife never expressed any concerns or problems in her life in America.

"Eunice was always winning," he said.

Slain Sayreville Councilwoman's Family Wants More Info From Prosecutor (March 7)