Virginia man convicted in 2023 ambush, murder of NJ councilwoman
A man accused of ambushing and killing New Jersey councilwoman and evangelical minister Eunice Dwumfour was found guilty Monday of her murder.
Rashid Ali Bynum, 30, was convicted by a jury of nine men and three women after five hours of deliberation Friday and another hour and 15 minutes on Monday morning, the Newark Star Ledger reported. Dwumfour's husband and other family members wept at the verdict.
The Newark-born and raised Dwumfour, 30, a Republican serving her first term on the Sayreville Council, had just dropped off a roommate after coming home from Walmart the night she was shot. She went to park while he brought the groceries into their rented home at the Camelot at La Mer apartment complex. At 7:22 p.m. she was shot 14 times while sitting in her car. The car rolled downhill about 100 feet and smashed into two parked cars. Surveillance footage later surfaced of a mysterious figure fleeing the scene, corroborating neighbors' descriptions.
Dwumfour had beaten a Democratic incumbent in 2021 to become the town's first Black elected official. She was also a staple in the community for her work in the church. She lived at the Camelot at La Mer apartment complex with her preteen daughter and two roommates. Just a few months earlier she had a fellow pastor of her Nigeria-based church, the prosperity gospel group Champions Royal Assembly. Husband Peter Ezechukwu was due to arrive from Nigeria that spring.
Police finally caught up with and arrested Bynum, a former church associate of Dwumfour's, in August 2023. He was indicted on murder and weapons charges the same month and denied bail.
Bynum's attorney, Michael Ashley, told reporters after the verdict 'there was no direct evidence' his client had pulled the trigger, and that Bynum 'almost certainly' planned to appeal. He's scheduled for sentencing in August and faces 30 years to life in prison.
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