Mother Of Slain NJ GOP Councilwoman Arrested At Bail Hearing For Suspected Killer

The mother of murdered Sayreville, New Jersey, councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour was arrested at the suspected killer’s bail hearing on Monday after allegedly throwing a water bottle at him. 

Mary Dwumfour, a native of Ghana, was placed in handcuffs and cited for disorderly conduct during the brief altercation in the courtroom after 29-year-old Rashid Ali Bynum was denied bail, according to the Daily Mail. John Wisniewski, the Dwumfour family’s attorney, called the arrest “unfortunate,” adding that the Middlesex County Sheriff’s Office “should’ve used better judgment,” NBC New York reported. 

Bynum, who prosecutors say knew 30-year-old Dwumfour through her church, is charged with her February 1 murder and was denied bail based on “overwhelming evidence” against him, according to the judge. Bynum pleaded not guilty.

A not guilty plea from the man accused of murdering Sayreville councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour,30 @wcbs880 @1010WINS pic.twitter.com/JZOQU1O649

— Marla Diamond (@MDiamond8) August 28, 2023

Prosecutors said Dwumfour invited Bynum to attend her church and a Bible study organization she started when they both lived in Virginia. The suspect then moved to Sayreville, where Dwumfour frequently lived with her daughter and other church members. 

Bynum then moved back to Virginia after a falling out with the church, according to Assistant Prosecutor Amber Gibbs. The Dwumfour family said they did not recognize Bynum after he was arrested for her murder in late May. 

Murder victim Eunice Dwumfour’s family looks on during 1st appearance of defendant Rashid Ali Bynum in Middlesex Co Court. Judge Paone decided Bynum will stay behind bars —calling the state’s evidence “strong and compelling.” He called it a “brutal crime” @NJSpotlightNews tonite pic.twitter.com/oblaTJwJ3J

— Brenda Flanagan (@BFlanaganNJ) August 28, 2023

Dwumfour was gunned down on a Wednesday night in her white Nissan SUV as she neared her Sayreville home. After she was shot around 14 times, Dwumfour’s vehicle reportedly traveled about 100 feet before hitting two parked cars. Police later told The New York Post that the New Jersey politician was seen on video talking to the shooter moments before she was murdered. 

Eyewitnesses said they saw the gunman run toward Garden State Parkway after firing multiple times into Dwumfour’s vehicle. Police later received a tip and searched for the murder weapon in the woods behind the complex where Dwumfour lived, but did not report any findings, according to ABC 7.  

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Following the murder, the case went silent for four months as authorities held no press conferences, and the prosecutor’s office requested an injunction to block news outlets from obtaining important information about the investigation. In March, the councilwoman’s parents expressed frustration at the lack of developments from the investigation into their daughter’s murder. The family’s attorney also said the lack of info from authorities on the case was “mystifying and troubling.”

Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone said it “was a very complex, extensive case with painstaking police work,” adding that the suspect was caught on surveillance footage fleeing the scene after the shooting. The prosecutor also said that Bynum’s phone indicated that he had traveled from Virginia to New Jersey at the time of Dwumfour’s murder. Investigators said they had matched the gun used in Dwumfour’s killing to a weapon found in Bynum’s apartment. 

Dwumfour, a Republican, was elected to the Borough of Sayreville City Council in an upset victory over her Democratic opponent in 2021. She was also a business analyst and part-time EMT and heavily involved in a Nigerian church group, The New York Post reported. The Republican councilwoman was the oldest of five children born to a Ghanaian family. In December, Dwumfour celebrated getting married. She was also the mother of a 12-year-old daughter from a previous relationship.