NJ councilwoman may have been killed by man she was counseling, officials say

🔴 Eunice Dwumfour, a Republican councilwoman from Sayreville, was shot dead outside her home in February

🔴 After a months-long investigation, a suspect was identified and arrested this week

🔴 Her family says that they did not know the accused killer

SAYREVILLE — The councilwoman who was shot dead outside her home in February may have been slain by a man to whom she was providing spiritual guidance, officials say.

The attorney for Eunice Dwumfour family, John Wisniewski, told New Jersey 101.5 that the family was not aware of Rashid Ali Bynum, the Virginia man charged with first-degree murder and weapons charges in connection with her Feb 1. death.

Council President Christian Onuoha told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that Dwumfour traveled to Virginia in her role as a pastor with the Champions Royal Assembly in Newark during missionary trips between 2016 and 2018 and counseled Bynum.

Onuoha did not know if Bynum kept in touch with Dwumfour once her trips ended.

"I remember her co-ordinating bible studies in Chesapeake, Virginia, as well as other locations primarily in New Jersey," Onuoha told ABC 7 Eyewitness News.

He remembered Bynum as being calm and reserved and feeling "blessed" for what he was hearing while at church.

Hoping to get a life on track

A relative told ABC 7 Eyewitness News that Bynum had "psychological issues" and hoped the church would help him get his life on track.

Bynum came to New Jersey at Drumfour's behest and lived at the Skytop Gardens Apartments in Parlin in 2017, according to The New Jersey Globe.

Neighbors told WVEC TV that they watched as over a dozen law enforcement vehicles arrived at Bynum's home Tuesday.  They were concerned that a murder suspect was living in their neighborhood.

CBS New York reported that Bynum has a bond hearing on Friday in Chesapeake District Court and an extradition hearing at the end of June.

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