SAYREVILLE, N.J. (PIX11) — Family and friends of slain Sayreville, N.J. Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour have the “who” but are still in search of “why”; as in a motive for why alleged 28-year-old suspect Rashid Ali Bynum wanted to kill her.  

Sayreville Council president Christian Onuoha ran on the same ticket with Dwumfour and also knew her personally in her capacity as a church minister and treasurer.

He said Dwumfour initially met Bynum during her missionary work in Virginia – as a church minister, around 2017 or 2018 – and never saw them together outside of that setting.

Onuoha adds he has no reason to believe her murder had anything to do with either of her church roles as minister and treasurer of the former Fire Congress Fellowship church.

“To see that someone would be so unreasonable to express such a rage, a hatred to sneak life out of a mother – it’s very painful. In the context of Mr. Bynum, or anyone who comes to church, it’s not always folks who are in the best place in their life,” said Onuoha.

It’s been four months since Middlesex County prosecutors say Bynum shot and killed Dwumfour as she sat in her car – in her Sayreville townhouse complex.

Investigators say they used Bynum’s cell phone data, including contacts and internet search history, along with E-ZPass records and witness statements to make their case.

Dwumfour family attorney John Wisniewski.

“To my knowledge, to the family’s knowledge, there was no personal relationship between them. There may have been a relationship, as a pastor, and as a member of a congregation,” said Wisniewski.

Onuoha says within the last few years, Fire Congress Fellowship merged with the Nigerian-based mega-church Champions Royal Assembly and currently operates its North American branch here in Newark.

He said Dwumfour’s legacy lives on.

“Being true to service, we always try to carry it into every area of our lives. That’s how you develop an internal value. And that’s what she would always tell us. And not just out of emotion. She would tell us based on her understanding of the word of god,” said Onuoha.