Fatal Shooting Of Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour: What We Know

SAYREVILLE, NJ — A newly elected Republican Councilwoman in Sayreville was fatally gunned down just feet from her front door Wednesday evening, and Gov. Phil Murphy decried it as "an act of gun violence" that stunned the state.

Eunice Dwumfour, 30, was shot near her apartment in the Camelot at La Mer apartment complex shortly after 7 p.m. Wednesday, said Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone. She was inside her SUV when she was hit with multiple rounds of gunfire.

It was 7:22 p.m. Wednesday when Sayreville Police received the 911 call reporting shots fired on Samuel Circle inside the development.

Neighbors in the complex told NJ.com they heard six shots, and then saw her white Nissan SUV roll down a hill and collide with multiple parked cars before finally coming to a stop.

Authorities believe she was the intended target of the shooting, ABC6 reported. Neighbors also told NJ.com the shooter appeared to target her car, stopping and opening fire into the SUV before driving away. Other neighbors said "they saw someone running away with a mask on," according to the New York Post.

Sayreville Police and the Middlesex County Prosecutor immediately ruled her death a homicide Wednesday night. As of Thursday afternoon, no arrests have been made in her killing.

When police got there, they found Dwumfour slain, sitting in the driver's seat of her SUV. She had been shot multiple times and was pronounced dead on the scene, police said.

Sayreville business administrator Glenn Skarzynski told the New York Times that Dwumfour has a preteen daughter, who was "the center of her life."

It remains unclear where her daughter was at the time of the shooting.

“Her daily life was all about being a Christian first and everything else second,” he said.

Dwumfour, the daughter of African immigrant parents, had just been elected to the Sayreville town Council in 2021. She was a Republican woman who was strongly guided by her deep Christian faith, those who knew her said.

"She was the embodiment of Sayreville, living the American dream, overcoming challenges with grit and a smile," said Sayreville Republican Party Chair Karen Bailey-Bebert, who knew Dwumfour well. "Always giving of time and love to others. She embodied Sayreville and will be terribly missed by all who were fortunate enough to know her."

Bailey-Bebert said Dwumfour had no political enemies and was not pushing any controversial legislation.

"None that I'm aware of," she said.

Dwumfour, along with fellow Republican Christian Onuoha, also originally from Nigeria, had both just won seats on the Sayreville Council. (Onuoha has also run for Congress in the past, trying to flip this blue-collar part of Central Jersey from blue to red. In the 2020 midterms, this area's longtime Democratic Congressman Frank Pallone defeated Onuoha, but only by about 73,000 votes, Pallone got 199,648 votes and Onuoha got 126,760.)

Onuoha did not return calls or texts seeking comment on his colleague's death.

But Dwumfour's and Onuoha's 2021 Council wins did raise eyebrows, said New Jersey Republican insiders, as the two newcomers beat out longtime Democrat Council reps in Sayreville, a town that is traditionally a battleground between the Republican and Democratic parties.

Dwumfour was heavily involved in Nigerian Christian churches in the area. According to this TAP Into profile, she grew up in Newark, attended Newark public schools and went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in Women & Gender Studies at William Paterson University. While attending college, she also worked part-time as an EMT in Passaic County.

She moved to the Parlin section of Sayreville about five years ago and decided to seek public office. Her newly elected position as a Councilwoman was her first foray into public life. On her LinkedIn profile, she describes herself as a business analyst seeking career opportunities.

She also used to be a member of the Sayreville Human Relations Commission.

Gov. Murphy said he was "stunned" by her murder, and Bob Hugin, the chairman of the New Jersey Republican Party, said "We have the utmost confidence that law enforcement will bring the perpetrators of this heartbreaking tragedy to justice."

Her neighbor in the Camelot at La Mer apartment complex, Mahesh Chitnis — and who also served on the Sayreville Human Relations Commission with her — posted on Facebook that Dwumfour was killed "while returning back home" Wednesday night.

"I am shocked, scared and heartbroken," he wrote. "(She) was killed 300 feet from my home this evening. She was shot while returning back home. She was a woman full of life. When she missed HRC meeting she used to ask me to put her on speaker phone so that she could participate. I was looking forward to meeting her tomorrow in our monthly meeting. We will miss her..."

"We will remember Eunice for her steadfast dedication to the community, as well as her deep and abiding Christian faith," said NJ Republican Party chairman Hugin.

"We remember Eunice for how she lived, not for how she died," said Sayreville Republican Chair Karen Bailey Bebert.

Both Gov. Murphy and the Middlesex County Prosecutor are urging the public to contact police with any information they may know.

Anyone with information — and especially surveillance video from the area — is urged to contact 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.

Original Patch report: Sayreville Councilwoman Shot, Killed Inside Car Wednesday