Latest news with #Dwumfour
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Yahoo
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. With News Wire Services
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Virginia man found guilty in death of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour: officials
SAYREVILLE, N.J. (PIX11) — The man charged in connection with the death of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour in 2023 was found guilty of murder, the Middlesex County Prosecutor's Office announced Monday. Rashid Ali Bynum of Virginia will be sentenced on August 18. More Local News Bynum was found guilty of first-degree murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and unlawful possession of a weapon for unlawful purpose, prosecutors say. Dwumfour, 30, was found with multiple gunshot wounds inside her vehicle outside her home in a townhouse complex in Sayreville on the evening of February 1, 2023, according to authorities. Authorities linked Bynum to Dwumfour's killing using surveillance video, witness reports, cellphone data, internet searches, and E-ZPass records, among other pieces of evidence, officials said. Dwumfour had been elected to a three-year term on the Sayreville council in 2021. She was a mother and a soft-spoken devout Christian, according to those who knew her. Ben Mitchell is a digital content producer from Vermont who has covered both local and international news since 2021. He joined PIX11 in 2024. See more of his work here. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Man found guilty in shooting death of New Jersey councilwoman
A New Jersey jury convicted Rashid Ali Bynum of murder on Monday in the gunning down of a Republican councilwoman earlier this year. The victim, Eunice Dwumfour, was serving as the first Black member of the Sayreville city council. Middlesex County Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone has set Bynum's sentencing date for Aug. 18. He faces 30 years to life in prison. Bynum was a member of Dwumfour's congregation years ago, according to Christian Onuoha, who was Dwumfour's colleague on the borough council and also a member of her church. "She was his pastor around 2018," he told Fox News Digital. "That was the last time any of us remember seeing him." Eunice Dwumfour Murder: New Jersey Police Arrest Man Months After Slaying Of Republican Councilwoman Bynum has a lengthy rap sheet, including allegations of fraud, forgery and theft stretching back to 2013, the records reveal. He faced firearms charges in Virginia in 2015 and again in Maryland in 2019. Read On The Fox News App In the 2015 case, he pleaded guilty to illegally carrying a concealed weapon, a misdemeanor, and received a sentence of three years' probation, court records show. Dwumfour's husband, Peter Akwue, also known as Eze Kings and a pastor in the church but based in Africa, told Fox News Digital last month that he did not know Bynum. Nj Councilwoman Shooting 911 Calls Reveal Eyewitness Account Of Male Suspect Wearing Black, Fleeing On Foot The 30-year-old Dwumfour was a former EMT, an IT consultant and active in her local church as well as in nonprofit groups and was on the Sayreville Borough Council's Human Relations Commission, serving at-risk communities. She won an upset election as a new candidate in November 2021 over the incumbent Democrat. Police found her riddled with gunshot wounds in her white Nissan SUV around 7:30 p.m. on Feb. 1, 2023. Bynum was originally arrested in late May in his home in Chesapeake City, Virginia. He was then transferred to New Jersey. Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this article source: Man found guilty in shooting death of New Jersey councilwoman
