Eunice Dwumfour

{{infobox officeholder

|name=Eunice Dwumfour

|birth_date={{birth year|1993}}

|birth_place=East Orange, New Jersey, U.S.

|death_date={{death date and given age|2023|2|1|30}}

|death_place=Parlin, New Jersey, U.S.

|death_cause=Assassination

|party=Republican

|spouse=Peter Ezechukwu

|children=1

|parents=Prince Dwumfour
Mary Dwumfour

|alma_mater=William Paterson University

}}

Eunice Dwumfour (1993 {{Endash}} 2023) was an American politician who served as a Republican member of the borough council of Sayreville, New Jersey, from 2021 until her assassination. Dwumfour was the first African American to serve in that position. She also worked as a business analyst and emergency medical technician. Dwumfour, a leader in Christian entities, was married and had a daughter.

Early life and education

Dwumfour was born in 1993, in East Orange, New Jersey, the daughter of Mary and Prince Dwumfour, who are from Ghana.Johnson, Brent; Sargeant, Keith; and Sherman, Ted. [https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2023/04/a-cell-phone-overlooked-silence-from-prosecutors-in-unsolved-murder-of-sayreville-councilwoman.html "A cell phone overlooked, silence from prosecutors, in unsolved murder of Sayreville councilwoman"], NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, May 1, 2023. Accessed November 10, 2023. "Born in East Orange to Ghanaian immigrants, Dwumfour had been active in Christian ministry since she was a teen."{{Cite web |date=22 Mar 2023 |title=Family of murdered NJ Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour speaks out for 1st time |url=https://abc7ny.com/nj-councilwoman-shot-dead-eunice-dwumfour-sayrevile-murdered/12990982/ |access-date=26 May 2023 |website=ABC7 NY}}{{Cite web |last=Thompson |first=Brian |date=23 Mar 2023 |title='I Need Justice': Family of NJ Councilwoman Killed Outside Her Home Speaks Out |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/i-need-justice-family-of-nj-councilwoman-killed-outside-her-home-speaks-about-loss/4173979/ |access-date=26 May 2023 |website=NBC New York}} She graduated from Weequahic High School in 2010[https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2023/02/eunice-dwumfour-sayreville-councilwoman-killed-outside-her-home-had-just-won-1st-elected-office.html "Eunice Dwumfour, Sayreville councilwoman killed outside her home, had just won 1st elected office"], NJ Advance Media for NJ.com, February 3, 2023. Accessed November 10, 2023. "Dwumfour is a 2010 graduate of Weequahic High School in Newark." and received a bachelor's degree from William Paterson University in 2017.{{Cite web |last=Shanahan |first=Ed |date=30 May 2023 |title=Virginia Man Is Charged in Fatal Shooting of New Jersey Councilwoman |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/nyregion/eunice-dwumfour-killing-arrest-nj.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607091109/https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/30/nyregion/eunice-dwumfour-killing-arrest-nj.html |archive-date=7 June 2023 |access-date=10 June 2023 |website=The New York Times}}

Career

Dwumfour worked as a part-time emergency technician and business analyst.{{Cite web |last1=Katersky |first1=Aaron |last2=Haworth |first2=Jon |date=2 Feb 2023 |title=New Jersey councilwoman shot and killed in possible targeted attack outside her home |url=https://abcnews.go.com/US/new-jersey-councilwoman-shot-killed-targeted-attack-home/story?id=96844342 |access-date=17 May 2023 |website=ABC News}} She was elected as council member in the Borough of Sayreville in an unexpected result in 2021, after running as Republican. She had also been a pastor at an African Christian church in Newark and a director in Champions Royal Assembly, an international religious organization.

Personal life

The councilwoman was a single mother of a 12-year-old daughter and had recently married Peter Ezechukwu, a pastor from Nigeria.

Assassination

Dwumfour was in her SUV outside of her Sayreville townhouse when she was shot 14 times on Wednesday 1 February 2023 at around 7:30 pm. Her vehicle proceeded to roll downhill and crashed into several cars.

= Aftermath =

New Jersey governor Phil Murphy expressed shock and indicated that Dwumfour was the first elected official in recent memory who had been shot and killed in the state. The GOP Chairwoman and the mayor of Sayreville, Victoria Kilpatrick, both praised her. The family of the councilwoman wanted closure and hired attorney John Wisniewski, a former member of the state Assembly. For months the investigation was perceived as stalled, without suspects or motives.{{Cite web |last1=Thompson |first1=Brian |last2=Dienst |first2=Jonathan |last3=Tracie |first3=Strahan |date=4 Feb 2023 |title=Who Killed NJ Councilwoman? FBI Releases Statement; Hunt for Shooter, Motive Ongoing |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/sayreville-nj-councilwoman-eunice-dwumfour-shot-dead-what-to-know/4084104/ |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=NBC New York}}

Rashid Ali Bynum, a resident of Portsmouth, Virginia, was arrested in that city on May 30, 2023, and charged with the murder of Dwumfour. Bynum is a former resident of Sayreville and had been a member of the Fire Congress Fellowship, a religious organization with offices near Sayreville that Dwumfour helped to lead. A press report says that the fellowship is affiliated with the Champions Royal Assembly, Dwumfour's church in Newark, which itself is an offshoot of a megachurch with a similar name that is based in Nigeria. The prosecutor for Middlesex County, New Jersey, said after the arrest that evidence implicating Bynum includes security camera video from the murder scene, and cellphone and toll records that indicate that Bynum was in Sayreville at the time of the murder. She did not comment on any suspected motive for the killing.

Bynum was subsequently extradited to New Jersey and indicted there on murder and weapons charges on August 16, 2023. An arraignment on the charges was scheduled for later in the same month. At the time of the indictment, prosecutors had not released any evidence related to the case to the public.{{cite news |title=Suspect in New Jersey councilwoman's slaying indicted on murder, weapons charges |url=https://nypost.com/2023/08/18/nj-councilwoman-eunice-dwumfours-suspected-murderer-rashid-ali-bynum-indicted/ |access-date=18 August 2023 |work=New York Post |date=18 August 2023 |ref=NYPostIndictment}}

Legacy

Dwumfour was the first African American to serve as a member of the council of the Borough of Sayreville.{{Cite web |last1=Johnson |first1=Brent |last2=Sargeant |first2=Keith |date=22 Mar 2023 |title=Family of slain Sayreville councilwoman to speak publicly in unsolved killing |url=https://www.nj.com/middlesex/2023/03/family-of-slain-sayreville-councilwoman-to-speak-publicly-in-unsolved-killing.html |access-date=22 May 2023 |website=NJ.com}}

References

External links

[https://web.archive.org/web/20230509233441/https://sayrevillegop.org/campaign-21/ Sayreville GOP Campaign 21] - Dwumfour campaign post with her picture
[https://www.sayreville.com/cn/TownCouncil/?tpid=8636 Borough of Sayreville] – official Council website

Category:1993 births

Category:2023 deaths

Category:Emergency medical technicians

Category:New Jersey city council members

Category:New Jersey Republicans

Category:People from Sayreville, New Jersey

Category:Politicians from East Orange, New Jersey

Category:Politicians from Newark, New Jersey

Category:People murdered in New Jersey

Category:Weequahic High School alumni

Category:Assassinated American politicians

Category:American people of Ghanaian descent