Arrest made in the murder of New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, authorities say
An arrest has been made in the murder of New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, who was shot to death outside her home in Sayreville on Feb. 1, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced at a press conference Tuesday.
Police arrested Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, of Portsmouth, Virginia in connection with the murder, Ciccone said.
Bynum was taken into custody in Chesapeake City, Virginia, without incident, she said, and he is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.
Bynum is charged with first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a handgun, and second-degree possession of a handgun for an unlawful purpose, Ciccone said.
Dwumfour, of Sayreville, was shot while sitting in her car on the evening of Feb. 1. A 911 call reporting shots fired prompted police to respond to the home around 7:30 p.m. that evening. Police found the 30-year-old borough councilwoman in her vehicle with multiple gunshot wounds. She died at the scene, police said.
How did police say they tracked the suspect?
A witness told investigators that they saw a suspicious white Hyundai Elantra parked in the area with Virginia license plates, Ciccone said. Investigators tracked a white Hyundai Elantra using E-ZPass logs and license plate trackers driving from Virginia to New Jersey and back again.
Another witness said they saw a thin Black male around 5'10" tall with braids, and surveillance video caught a figure with similar characteristics in the area of the murder, Ciccone said.
Police were also able to track a cellphone registered to Bynum that traveled from Virginia to New Jersey and back to Virginia after the shooting, Ciccone said.
Investigators found Bynum saved as a contact in Dwumfour's phone as "FCF." Ciccone said that "FCF" stood for Fire Congress Fellowship church. Ciccone said that the church was related to Champions Royal Assembly, a church that Dwumfour attended. She didn't give further information on the connection between the two religious institutions.
Additional records reveal that on the day of the murder, Bynum searched online for information about the Champions Royal Assembly as well as the Sayreville, New Jersey area, Ciccone said. Days prior to the murder, Bynum searched for magazines that were compatible with a specific handgun, Ciccone said.
"There are no words that will make you whole," New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin said to Dwumfour's family, who attended the news conference. He said the work law enforcement "has done is extraordinary" and that "no stone has been left unturned" in the homicide investigation.