Man Accused Of Killing Sayreville Councilwoman Extradited To NJ

SAYREVILLE, NJ — On Thursday, the young man accused of killing a Sayreville councilwoman in February of this year was extradited from Virginia to New Jersey.

Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, is currently being held in the Middlesex County jail pending his first appearance in Middlesex County Superior Court.

He is charged with the first-degree murder of Eunice Dwumfour, the 30-year-old councilwoman who was fatally shot multiple times on the night of Feb. 1 outside her condo in Sayreville. He was charged with her murder on May 30, but it took several months to extradite him to New Jersey because he was being processed on separate gun charges in Virginia.

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone has never alleged any possible motive as to why Bynum allegedly killed the first-term Republican councilwoman and mother of a single child, a daughter, age 12.

But the two knew each other from church.

Bynum was stored in Dwumfour's phone under the acronym "FCF," believed to stand for Fire Congress Fellowship. It is part of Champions Royal Assembly, a Christian church in Newark that is connected to a mega church in Nigeria.

Dwumfour's family is originally from Nigeria, and she was a pastor at Royal Assembly. She was known as "Pastor Eunice D.," and she often gave passionate sermons from the pulpit.

The young man and woman appear to have been in the same Bible study at the church.

Bynum attended the church briefly in his 20s. He would sometimes appear on Sundays from 2015 to 2017, the church's chief financial officer Wilson Adubasim previously told NJ.com. He said Bynum always came to church alone, and he was not aware of any relationship between the two, telling NJ.com: “I’m not seeing any reason why he would (kill Dwumfour). He wasn’t a bad kid."

A search of Bynum's phone on the day of the murder showed he did Google searches for Champion Royal Assembly church. He also did Internet searches on the Sayreville neighborhood where Dwumfour lived and what magazines were compatible with a certain type of gun. A handgun was recovered at the Virginia home Bynum returned to after Dwumfour's murder, said the prosecutor.

Dwumfour was shot to death in her car at 7:22 p.m. Feb. 1. Witnesses at the Sayreville condo complex reported seeing a "young, thin man with dreads" firing a gun into her car.

On May 30 of this year, Bynum was arrested and charged with her murder.

But even now, in late July, detectives are still requesting any new information or surveillance footage in the case.

"This is an active and ongoing investigation anyone with information or surveillance footage of the area is asked to call Detective Rebecca Morales of the Sayreville Police Department at 732-727-4444 or Detective Michelle Coppola of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office 732-745-3477," said the Middlesex County Prosecutor on July 28.

Killing of NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour: What We Know So Far (May 31)