'We don’t think there is proof': Defense says evidence lacking in Dwumfour murder case

NEW BRUNSWICK – Attorneys for the Virginia man charged with last year’s killing of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour believe the state rushed the case against their client.

Attorney Michael Ashley, who along with Thomas Ashley, are representing Rashid Bynum in the fatal shooting of Dwumfour, said the state is lacking direct evidence.

“The way we see the case, we don’t think there is proof that our client was there. There are no eyewitnesses placing our client there,” Michael Ashley said Tuesday, adding there is no evidence of his client being engaged in anything in the area, much less a homicide.

Thomas Ashley said no matter what circumstantial evidence there might be, there is no identification of Bynum committing a crime.

The attorneys offered comments after a brief hearing before Superior Court Judge Joseph Paone, during which they requested a list of all the state’s evidence to make sure they have everything for the case they anticipate will go to trial.

Dwumfour’s family was not in court for the hearing which came just days after the one-year anniversary of the councilwoman’s slaying.

The state has until Feb. 20 to provide the list before the attorneys in the case meet again in early March.

More: Sayreville cop alleges ex-mayor falsely 'implied' his involvement in Dwumfour murder

The defense plans to challenge some of the warrants in the case and believes there is evidence that suggests Bynum is not the person responsible for Dwumfour’s death.

Thomas Ashley said the defense still has not received a report on the results of a DNA test taken during a court session in October. If the DNA found at the scene doesn’t match his client’s, Ashley said he should have that information immediately.

Assistant Prosecutor Kristen Pridgen said she was not aware of any results that have come back and would check with the lab.

Michael Ashley said there was DNA recovered from the scene that was a probable match for someone who is not his client.

He said the defense will also be looking at what was reported the night of the crime and the type of vehicle police were initially looking for.

More: Eunice Dwumfour murder hearing offers first look at defense strategy

Around 7:22 p.m. Feb. 1, 2023 Dwumfour, 30, a Republican and Sayreville's first Black elected official, was shot 14 times, in what prosecutors called an "ambush" inside her car outside her home in the area of Check Avenue in the Parlin section of the borough shortly after her daughter had left the vehicle. Dwumfour was pronounced dead at the scene.

Police received several 911 calls about the shooting and surveillance video captured a suspect fleeing the scene in the area of Ernston Road. Witnesses reported seeing a thin man, about 6 feet tall with ear-length braids or dreadlocks and a suspicious white Hyundai on Gondek Drive minutes before the shooting. Video footage also showed a person walking from the vehicle on Gondek Drive toward Check Avenue just before the shooting and firing into Dwumfour's vehicle.

Bynum was arrested on May 30, 2023 in Virginia and charged with Dwumfour's killing. That same day a search warrant was executed at a Virginia address and a Glock 19 handgun was found in a black fanny pack belonging to Bynum.

He was extradited to New Jersey in July and in August Bynum was indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury on charges of first-degree murder, second-degree unlawful possession of a weapon and second-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose in Dwumfour's killing.

Court papers indicate a cellphone associated with Bynum traveled from Virginia to New Jersey and back to Virginia on the day of the shooting and the phone was in the area of Gondek Drive and Ernston Road just before the shooting. The investigation also found Bynum's cellphone traveled through E-ZPass locations in Newark, Woodbridge and Linden at the same time as a white Hyundai Elantra with a Virginia license plate, a vehicle Bynum allegedly rented the day before the shooting, court papers say.

Dwumfour, a pastor at her church, and Bynum apparently knew each other after meeting years earlier when she was recruiting people to join the church. He was recruited in Virginia and brought up to New Jersey where he lived with Dwumfour, her daughter and other church members in Skytop Gardens and received religious guidance, according to court papers. When it became apparent to church members he was not following religious practices, he was asked to return to Virginia, court papers say.

Bynum was listed as a contact in Dwumfour's cellphone, in association with Fire Congress Fellowship, a church with which Dwumfour and Bynum had both previously been associated with, according to court papers. On the day of the killing Bynum alleged conducted an internet search on Sayreville, particularly the Parlin section, court papers say.

Email: srussell@gannettnj.com

Suzanne Russell is a breaking news reporter for MyCentralJersey.com covering crime, courts and other mayhem. To get unlimited access, please subscribe or activate your digital account today.

This article originally appeared on MyCentralJersey.com: Eunice Dwumfour murder case: Defense says prosecutors lack evidence