Slain Councilwoman's Funeral Attracts NJ's Biggest Names In Politics

SAYREVILLE, NJ — Several hundred people — including some of the biggest names in New Jersey politics — gathered Wednesday night at Epic Church International in Sayreville to mourn the death of Eunice Dwumfour.

Dwumfour is the Sayreville councilwoman who was gunned down right outside her home last Wednesday night in what police are saying was a targeted shooting.

Jack Ciattarelli, the Republican who almost beat Phil Murphy in the 2021 governor race, attended the service, as did Lt. Gov. Sheila Oliver, the second-highest ranking Democrat in the state.

"There is not an unbroken heart in the state of New Jersey. Everyone is grieving and mourning for this loss," Oliver addressed the crowd, which included many members of Dwumfour's family.

"And all of us are left with one daunting question: Why?," said New Jersey Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D), who also attended and spoke.

"May she forever rest in peace," said Ciattarelli.

The FBI is now helping the Middlesex County Prosecutor on the case, and as of Thursday, still no arrests have been made. The Middlesex County Prosecutor has also declined to hold any press conferences on her death, which has been ruled a homicide. However, this week, this video was released that shows a person running in the apartment complex where Dwumfour was fatally shot.

Watch last night's memorial service here, from CBS New York:

Dwumfour was a Republican, and she was the first African-American ever elected in Sayreville, a blue-collar town that is a political battleground between the Republican and Democratic parties.

She was a single mother raising a pre-teen daughter alone in their apartment in the Camelot at la Mer complex. Just after 7 p.m. Feb. 1, a masked gunman fired multiple bullets into her SUV as she pulled into park, killing her as she sat in the driver's seat. She had been hit by multiple bullets, said the county prosecutor, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

"Eunice was the first African-American to take office in the borough of Sayreville," said Sayreville Mayor Victoria Kilpatrick, as she was brought to tears in a eulogy for Dwumfour. "Eunice broke through that glass ceiling. She confidently, with class and dignity walked proudly to her seat on the dais in her signature, sparkling high heels."

"She forever was defining herself and making her place in our history, Sayreville's history, in our state's history, in our country's history and in the world."

"I'm still shaking in my core," a family friend of Dwumfour's told CBS News. "We've lost a wife and friend and mother."

Dwumfour was seen as a rising star in the New Jersey Republican Party, according to Sayreville Republican Party Chair Karen Bailey-Bebert. She had also recently married a man in Nigeria.

“To see the lives of not one but two community leaders cut tragically short within one week is unimaginably distressing," said New Jersey GOP chairman Bob Hugin, referring to this week's shooting death of Milford Councilman Russell Heller. "We are particularly praying for justice and answers in the unsolved murder of Councilwoman Dwumfour."

Sayreville Council President Christian Onuoha also spoke at the memorial service. Like Dwumfour, Onuoha is also a New Jersey Republican rising star: He is originally from Africa and challenged Rep. Frank Pallone (D) two years ago to represent Central NJ in Congress.

“I just believe that she was the best person to serve in our borough as a councilwoman,” Onuoha told MyCentralJersey. "She was one of a kind. Very selfless."

The most recent update on this story: No Arrests Made In NJ Councilwoman's Fatal Shooting, Police Seek Video (Feb. 7)