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‘No ongoing threat’ in search for NJ councilwoman's killer, officials say
By
Karen Yi
Published Feb 8, 2023
Modified Feb 8, 2023
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AP/Shutterstock
By
Karen Yi
Published Feb 8, 2023
Modified Feb 8, 2023
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The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s office broke nearly a week of silence about the shooting death of Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour on Wednesday, saying for the first time that there’s no threat to the community.
Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone made her first public comments on the case while speaking to reporters at an unrelated event. NJ.com reported that she said there was “not an ongoing threat to the community” but declined to name a suspect or a motive for the killing.
She also stood by her relative silence in the case and her decision not to hold any press conferences in the aftermath of the shooting. A spokesperson for the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office hasn't answered any questions since the morning of Thursday, Feb. 2 — when the office issued a release identifying Dwumfour as the victim of a shooting death the night before.
“There is no expense being spared,” Ciccone told reporters, according to the NJ.com report.
Earlier this week, Borough Administrator Glenn Skarzynski, a retired member of the police force, also defended the prosecutor’s office’s lack of updates to media or the public.
“We're trying to be as absolutely transparent as we can," he said. "It's just that we don't want to be the ones to make this go sideways.”
He said he “cannot imagine a scenario” in which there would be an ongoing threat to the public and the prosecutor wouldn’t warn the community.
Authorities haven’t announced any arrests in the case and Ciccone didn’t elaborate on how she knows there is no continuing threat.
The prosecutor’s office also withdrew a lawsuit filed Monday to block the release of documents in the case that were requested by various media organizations, including Gothamist, under the state’s Open Public Records Act. The lawsuit had been described by transparency advocates as an unnecessarily aggressive maneuver that could deter members of the public from exercising their right to request records — for fear of being taken to court.
Dwumfour, 30, was shot multiple times in her SUV last Wednesday night at the La Mer townhome development where she lived, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office has said. She was a first-time borough councilwoman who unseated a Democratic incumbent in 2021. Dwumfour was active in her Newark church, Champions Royal Assembly, and leaves behind a daughter.
“Please keep her and her family in your prayers,” Gov. Phil Murphy said at an event on Wednesday. “I spoke to her mom and dad the other night. You can only imagine how they’re doing.”
Dwumfour will be remembered at a memorial service on Wednesday at 6 p.m. at Epic Church International in Sayreville.
Tagged
public safety
new jersey
Politics
Karen Yi
Karen Yi covers homelessness and poverty. She joined the WNYC and Gothamist newsroom in 2020. Before that, Karen covered Newark for the Star-Ledger and spent almost a decade working for newspapers in New Jersey and Florida. She grew up in Miami and has a dog named Cashew. Got a tip? Email [email protected] or Signal 917-589-1460.
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