Rashid Bynum pleads not guilty in Eunice Dwumfour murder

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The man accused of murdering a New Jersey councilwoman smirked, yawned and was struck by a water bottle as he pleaded not guilty during his Monday arraignment.

Rashid Bynum, 29, of Virginia was ordered held behind bars while awaiting trial in the fatal Feb. 1 shooting of Sayerville pol Eunice Dwumfour outside the Republican’s home, according to My Central Jersey.

Bynum allegedly riddled Dwumfour’s SUV with bullets after the devout Christian councilwoman booted him from her home when their church determined he was living impiously.

As his lawyer entered the plea in Middlesex County Superior Court, Bynum was pictured yawning and later peering from behind his hair and smirking as the judge mentioned the suspected murder weapon, according to the Daily Mail.

Family members of the slain lawmaker cried in the courtroom during the proceeding — while Dwumfour’s mother Mary was arrested for disorderly conduct after she threw a water bottle at Bynum, the report said.

It was revealed during the proceeding that the suspect once lived with Dwumfour and her daughter but was kicked out after the Newark chapter of their Nigerian church, Champions Royal Assembly, ruled he was not following the rules of their faith, the outlet said.

Bynum was arrested in Chesapeake, Va., on May 30 and indicted by a Middlesex County grand jury earlier this month on first-degree murder and weapons charges.

Dwumfour, Sayreville’s first black elected official, died instantly when Bynum allegedly shot more than a dozen times at her white Nissan as she returned to her apartment complex from the grocery store, officials said. Her 11-year-old daughter was inside the home at the time of the shooting.

Bynum was linked to the crime by cellphone and vehicle transponder data and eyewitness accounts, prosecutors said. The alleged murder weapon was later recovered at his Virginia address.

The accused killer was listed in the victim’s phone under the acronym “FCF,” or Fire Congress Fellowship, which was associated with the church, where officials said she helped lead services and served as a treasurer.

Dwumfour married a fellow pastor in the church months before, but he had not yet moved from Africa to the US at the time of the murder.

Bynum would be detained until his next court date on October 30, Middlesex County prosecutors said.

Mary Dwumfour could immediately be reached for comment.