Suspect in New Jersey councilwoman’s slaying indicted on murder, weapons charges

NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. (AP) — A church associate charged with gunning down a New Jersey councilwoman has been indicted on murder and weapons charges.

A Middlesex County grand jury handed up the indictment Wednesday against Rashid Ali Bynum, 29, of Portsmouth, Virginia. He remains in the county jail and is scheduled to be arraigned Aug. 28. It was not known Thursday if he has retained an attorney.

Bynum was arrested in Virginia in May and was extradited to New Jersey last month. He had previously lived in Sayreville, where victim Eunice Dwumfour lived with her 11-year-old daughter and served on the City Council.

Dwumfour, 30, had gotten married just months before she was gunned down outside her rented townhome on Feb. 1 as she returned from the grocery store. She married a fellow pastor from her Nigerian church, Champions Royal Assembly, at its Abuja headquarters in November, but her husband had not yet joined her in the U.S.

Bynum was listed in Dwumfour’s phone under the acronym “FCF,” or Fire Congress Fellowship, a related church entity. She was deeply involved with the prosperity gospel group, helping lead services several times a week in Newark and serving as a church treasurer.

Prosecutors have released few details about the case and have not disclosed a possible motive.

When Bynum was arrested, prosecutors said police had used cellphone and vehicle transponder data to recreate his travels on Feb. 1 and tie him to the crime. He also matched the description of the gunman given by neighbors in Sayreville.