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Slain NJ councilwoman's family: No one asked if we knew why she was killed
By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Mar 22, 2023
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Louis C. Hochman/Gothamist
By
Louis C. Hochman
Published Mar 22, 2023
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Family members of slain Sayreville, New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour say they’ve only spoken twice to the authorities investigating her death — nearly two months after she was shot and killed in front of her home.
“The fact is we haven't had much interaction with them,” a pastor to the family, Karl Badu of the Church of Pentecost, said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference alongside Dwumfour’s parents and husband at Sayreville Borough Hall.
Badu said that Dwumfour’s parents, Newark residents Prince and Mary Dwumfour, were first called by the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office on Feb. 7 — six days after the shooting. It would be another month before they met with the prosecutor’s office for an in-person sit-down arranged by former assemblyman and attorney John Wisniewski, in hopes of receiving an update on the investigation.
Badu said the discussions didn’t give the family much insight into the shooting — an investigation prosecutors have repeatedly declined to discuss with the public or media, including on Wednesday. He said the Dwumfours were asked “the usual ‘tell us about Eunice’ type of questions.”
Prince Dwumfour said no one in law enforcement asked family members if they knew why someone would kill Eunice Dwumfour.
Criminal defense attorney Lauren Bayer — who said she’d been advising the councilwoman’s newlywed husband, Peter Ezechukwu, who also goes by the name Eze Kings — called that “surprising.”
This undated photo, provided by the Sayreville Borough Council, shows Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour. The 30-year-old councilwoman was found shot to death in an SUV outside of her home, authorities said.
AP/Shutterstock
“It’s hard to tell when those questions come and, and how they're answered, but I would say generally it would be a little surprising that they wouldn't make those inquiries straight away,” Bayer said.
Ezechukwu had been in Nigeria at the time of the shooting. He'd met Dwumfour in Nigeria through their mutual involvement in the Champions Royal Assembly ministry, and the two got married late last year.
Ezechukwu said he isn’t sure yet if he’ll be returning to Nigeria or staying in the U.S., though he'd previously planned to live with his wife. He didn't clarify if that would have been in Nigeria or the U.S.
Family members also said they didn’t know of any previous instances when Eunice Dwumfour had been targeted for violence, or of anything happening in her life that would put her in danger.
Eunice Dwumfour, a 30-year-old former Newark resident and the daughter of a Ghanaian immigrant family, moved to the Parlin section of Sayreville several years ago. She joined the Sayreville Borough Council last year after running as a Republican alongside current Council President Christian Onuoha, a fellow pastor of the Champions Royal Assembly’s congregation in Newark. Hundreds of people attended a memorial borough officials helped organize last month; there, speakers described her dedication to the community, and how, as the borough's first Black councilwoman, she was a role model to many of the community's young people.
The Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office has said Eunice Dwumfour was found dead in her vehicle the night of Feb. 1, in the La Mer townhome development where she lived. In the time since, the office has been nearly silent, save for one statement from Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone at an unrelated event on Feb. 8, where she said she believed there was no ongoing threat to the community.
Prosecutors took the unusual step of filing a lawsuit to block the release of certain public records in the case, but dropped the suit within a day of filing it. The prosecutor’s office had cited a desire to protect the family’s privacy in the filing.
“I don't care if they can bring everything out,” Prince Dwumfour said on Wednesday.
Wisniewski, standing at his side, followed that comment to clarify it: “They’re not concerned about information being released that someone else is saying might infringe on their privacy. They’re OK with that.”
Officials eventually released recordings of several 911 calls from the night of the shooting. Residents described hearing several shots fired, a person dressed in all black fleeing on foot, and Dwumfour’s white vehicle rolling down the street and crashing into other cars.
Prosecutors have not said if they’ve identified a motive in the shooting, or if they have a suspect. Wisniewski said the family understands authorities can’t release much information during an ongoing investigation, but they find the silence frustrating.
Eunice Dwumfour’s 12-year-old daughter from a prior relationship, Nicole, was home on the night of the shooting and heard a “pop pop pop,” which she believed was the sound of fireworks, Prince Dwumfour said.
Prince Dwumfour discusses the death of his daughter, Sayreville Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, at a press conference at Sayreville Borough Hall on March 22.
Louis C. Hochman/Gothamist
She’s now staying with her father, he said. Family members said Nicole’s father and Eunice Dwumfour had a good relationship, and their daughter alternated time in each of their homes. They said they’re not aware of Nicole’s father being interviewed by law enforcement. He was not present for the press conference.
The day after Eunice Dwumfour’s killing, Gov. Phil Murphy said on WNYC’s monthly “Ask Governor Murphy” call-in show that Dwumfour’s death didn’t appear related to her role as a political figure.
Wisniewski said that assumption has been frustrating for the family members — that they don’t necessarily believe she was targeted for political reasons, but don’t think any explanation should be off the table while her killing remains unsolved.
Family members said on Wednesday that they’re desperate for answers, and that they can’t understand why a killer would target a loved one they’d always known for her bright smile and generous spirit.
“I need justice for my daughter,” Mary Dwumfour said before she left the Sayreville Borough Council chamber’s podium in tears. “Please God, help me.”
Tagged
public safety
new jersey
Politics
Louis C. Hochman
After about two decades in (mostly) New Jersey-focused commercial print, digital and digital-but-radio-adjacent news, Lou stumbled into member-supported news in early 2021, as the editor and CEO of Montclair Local. There, he (hopes he) expanded enterprise, brought more sophistication to digital storytelling and moved the nonprofit newsroom closer to long-term financial sustainability. He helped lead the Local to its fourth consecutive General Excellence award from the New Jersey Press Association — the NJPA's highest honor with judges noting the paper's work to strip away layers of government opacity, to hold power to account, to make news accessible for more members of the community, to share the stories and concerns of more facets of the community and to tell compelling stories across multiple media. He's excited to continue the same ethic — news as a public service — at NYPR as the New Jersey and suburbs editor, drawing on the extraordinary talents of reporters including Karen Yi and Nancy Solomon. Lou lives in Philly (that commute!) with his partner and their two cats, about whom and about which he speaks incessantly.
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