(VIRGINIA) — A Virginia man has been arrested for the murder of New Jersey councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour, who was gunned down outside her home in February.
Rashid Ali Bynum, 28, who apparently knew Dwumfour from church, was taken into custody Tuesday morning on charges including first-degree murder, Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone announced at a news conference Tuesday.
According to Ciccone, Bynum was a contact in Dwomfour’s phone under the acronym “FCF,” which authorities believe stands for “Fire Congress Fellowship,” a church that the congresswoman was previously affiliated with, “which was also associated with the Champion Royal Assembly, the victim’s church at the time of her death.”
On the day of the shooting, Bynum allegedly searched online for information on the Champion Royal Assembly church and the Sayreville area, according to Ciccone.
In the days before the murder, Bynum allegedly searched online for what magazines were compatible with a specific handgun, she said.
Bynum’s phone traveled from Virginia to New Jersey at the time of the murder, and Bynum’s physical description matched a witness description of the suspect at the scene, Ciccone said.
Officials did not discuss a possible motive and did not take questions from reporters.
Ciccone called it a “complex, extensive case.”
Dwumfour, a business analyst and a part-time emergency medical technician, was elected as a Republican to the Sayreville Borough Council in 2021, defeating an incumbent Democrat.
“There are no words that can be said to you to make you whole,” New Jersey Attorney General Matthew Platkin said to Dwumfour’s family, who attended the press conference. “I did not know Eunice. I wish I had. But I know that she was a public servant.”
“I hope that today is the beginning of a healing process, and also the beginning of a sense of justice,” he added.
(TAMPA, Fla.) — A verbal confrontation at a gas station has left one man in critical condition with life-threatening injuries after an assailant poured gasoline over him and lit him on fire, police say.
The incident occurred on Sunday at approximately 4:32 p.m. at a Mobile gas station on North 22nd Street in Tampa, Florida, when two men entered into a verbal confrontation, according to a statement published by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office on Monday.
“Earl Hargrove, Jr., 34, bought a small amount of gasoline from the gas station,” authorities said in their statement. “Hargrove then proceeded to pour the gasoline on the victim and lit … him on fire.”
The victim — who currently remains unnamed — was taken to Tampa General Hospital where he was listed in critical condition with life-threatening injuries, police said.
Hargrove, Jr. is now facing facing charges of aggravated battery great bodily harm and attempted murder in the first degree.
“A verbal argument should never escalate to this level of violence,” said Sheriff Chad Chronister. “This suspect’s behavior is not only deplorable but will never be tolerated in our community. The suspect, in this case, is currently behind bars while we wait in anticipation for justice to be served.”
Anybody who has additional information on this case is asked to call the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at 813-247-8200.
(QUINCY, Ill.) — The murder trial of a former Family Feud contestant accused of killing his wife enters its second week Tuesday in Quincy, a historic city in downstate Illinois that overlooks the Mississippi River.
Adams County prosecutors say Tim Bliefnick, 39, killed his estranged wife Rebecca Bliefnick, 41, in February at her house, located just minutes away from his own. Her body was found shot 14 times, officials said.
In 2020, Tim Bliefnick gained notoriety when he appeared on an episode of Family Feud, telling host Steve Harvey his “biggest mistake” at his wedding was saying “I do” to his wife. He is charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion. Tim Bliefnick faces life in prison if convicted. He has pleaded not guilty.
Dozens of witnesses, including friends and family of the couple and local police officers, testified in Adams County Circuit Court last week over four days. They revealed intimacies of the couple’s troubled relationship, which had fractured during divorce proceedings and involved court orders of protection.
On Friday, Quincy police detective Eric Cowick testified that he reviewed records of phone and laptops owned by the couple. The greatest evidence originated from Tim Bliefnick’s laptop, which included Google searches and website visits for instructions on how to pick locks, open windows from the outside, clean gunshot residue from a smoking gun, open doors with a crowbar and trace shotgun rounds fired from a specific gun.
Tim Bliefnick used an alias on Facebook to purchase a bicycle police found a half-mile from Bliefnick’s home after the murder, Cowick testified. Prosecutors said videos from neighbors show someone riding a bicycle in the area between both homes in the days leading to the killing.
Tim Bliefnick’s attorney, Casey Schnack, said the records of websites Bliefnick visited on his phone had no time or date stamp, which made them irrelevant and “only opens the door for speculation.” In her opening argument, she said the case “is dripping with reasonable doubt.”
The defense introduced several friends and co-workers of the couple who collectively painted a picture of Rebecca Bliefnick as a victim of verbal and emotional abuse from her husband. A text from Rebecca shared by Christine Moore, a family friend, revealed she was worried her husband would kill her.
“The thought has gone through my mind that I may need a restraining order … I’m definitely changing the locks as soon as I can. The only way to ensure all three [sons] choose him over me is to eliminate me as the choice,” she wrote.
Despite filing for divorce in 2021, the proceedings dragged on for years because several conditions were contested, according to attorneys who testified last week. The conditions included the location of a handgun owned Tim Bliefnick, custody arrangements involving the children and whether or not Ray Bliefnick, Tim’s father, could be alone with the three sons.
Denny Woodworth, one of Rebecca’s divorce lawyers, said Rebecca filed a temporary restraining order against Ray Bliefnick in August 2021 because she did not want him to have any contact with the couple’s children. Ray Bliefnick, a retired sales consultant in Decatur, Illinois, had purchased a house on the same block as Rebecca. She also filed a petition to have Tim Bliefnick return a handgun to her but his defense attorney revealed he could not find it.
Jerry Timmerwilke, Rebecca’s second divorce attorney, testified that Tim Bliefnick would consider evenly split custody of the children only if Rebecca would undergo a psychological evaluation. He said Tim wanted his father to have unsupervised time with the children.
Testimony from friends showed Rebecca worried Tim would turn violent and Ray Bliefnick would take their children away from her.
“I am scared of his behavior and constant lies … on top of that he has our guns and ammunition,” she texted childhood friend Nicole Bateman.
To Rebecca Spots, a co-worker, she wrote that she feared her father-in-law.
“It has gotten to the point that I hate even going to work for fear he will secretly take off with the kids and I won’t see them for a long time or ever,” she wrote.
Sarah Reilly, Rebecca’s sister, read a text to jurors from Rebecca in which she said “if something ever happens to me, please make sure the number one person of interest is Tim.”
Their final divorce hearing was not yet scheduled “because Becky Bliefnick was murdered,” said Josh Jones, an assistant state’s attorney.
Schnack, however, repeatedly emphasized to jurors that a messy divorce is not grounds for a murder conviction. She also said none of the witnesses reported the texts to law enforcement.
Closing arguments for the trial are expected early next week. Rebecca Bliefnick’s family has launched an online fundraising drive to support the couple’s three sons.
(NEW YORK) — Aderrien Murry, the 11-year-old boy who was shot by police on May 20 after calling 911, spoke out about the harrowing experience in an exclusive interview with ABC News that is set to air on Good Morning America and GMA3 on Tuesday.
“I came out of the room like this,” Murry said with his hands above his head as he reflected on the incident in an interview with GMA3 co-anchor DeMarco Morgan.
“It felt like a Taser, like a big punch to the chest,” he added.
The boy’s mother, Nakala Murry, previously told GMA3 in an interview that aired on Thursday that her son was shot in the chest by a police officer who responded to their home in Indianola, Mississippi in the early morning hours of May 20 after her son called 911. Nakala Murry is now calling for the officer to be fired.
Nakala Murry told ABC News that she gave her son, Aderrien, the phone and asked him to call his grandmother, after Murry says she woke up around 4 a.m. on the morning of the incident, heard a knock on the window and saw her ex-boyfriend standing outside.
“I noticed he was kind of irate. And from dealing with him in the past, I know the irate version of him, what it could lead to,” she told GMA3.
ABC News has reached out to the ex-boyfriend but a request for comment was not immediately returned.
According to Nakala Murry, Aderrien first called the police and then he called his grandmother, who also called 911.
She explained that two officers responded to their home in Indianola, and her daughter’s father asked her not to open the door as police tried to break in.
“I heard a shot and I saw my son run out toward where we were,” she said recalling the shooting.
“[Aderrien] fell, bleeding,” Nakala Murry added.
Indianola Mayor Ken Featherstone told ABC News on Wednesday that Indianola police officer Greg Capers fired the shot that hit Aderrien. Capers was suspended Monday, Featherstone said. ABC News’ attempts to reach out to Capers directly were unsuccessful.
ABC News has reached out to the Indianola Police Department but they declined to comment.
According to the Mississippi Bureau of Investigation (MBI), which is investigating the incident, officers responded to a domestic disturbance at the home, and a minor was significantly hurt from an “officer-involved shooting.”
The results of the investigation will be shared with the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office, the agency said.
Asked about the status of the investigation, the Mississippi District Attorney’s Office referred all inquiries to the Mississippi Attorney General’s Office.
“The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office is tasked with reviewing and prosecuting all office- involved shootings. That being the case, we do not have any comment nor involvement in this investigation nor prosecution,” the DA’s office told ABC News.
The Mississippi Attorney General’s Office did not respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
(NEW YORK) — A 35-year-old man is missing after falling from a cruise ship off the coast of Florida, authorities said.
The U.S. Coast Guard said it is searching for a passenger who went overboard from the Carnival Magic cruise ship traveling 186 miles east of Jacksonville on Monday.
The man’s companion reported him missing late Monday afternoon and “an initial review of closed circuit security footage confirms that he leaned over the railing of his stateroom balcony and dropped into the water at approximately 4:10 a.m. Monday,” Carnival Cruise Line said in a statement to ABC News.
After the Coast Guard released the ship from search and rescue efforts, the 1,004-foot Carnival Magic continued its return trip to Norfolk, Virginia, where it was scheduled to arrive as planned on Tuesday.
The Coast Guard said it is using both air and water assets to conduct the search for the passenger, who has not been publicly identified.
(PITTSBURGH) — A federal death penalty trial began Tuesday for the man accused of killing 11 worshippers in a mass shooting at a Pittsburgh synagogue, with victims’ families looking on from the courtroom.
Robert Bowers allegedly stormed the Tree of Life synagogue on Oct. 27, 2018, gunning down 11 people in the deadliest antisemitic attack in American history. Bowers allegedly told investigators after his arrest that he wanted to kill Jewish people, according to a criminal complaint.
The jury is comprised of 11 women and seven men, and includes an intensive care nurse, a new father and a veteran.
The prosecution began its opening statements Tuesday by introducing the jurors to the victims, which included a 97-year-old woman who often read the “Prayer for Peace” at Shabbat services and a husband and wife in their 80s who were married in the same sanctuary where they were killed.
Bowers, according to authorities, made posts on the social media site Gab and allegedly posted and reposted photos with antisemitic tropes.
Bowers — armed with a semi-automatic assault-style rifle and three handguns — allegedly posted online minutes before the massacre: “I can’t stand by and watch my people get slaughtered. … I’m going in,” according to prosecutors.
Prosecutors said Bowers moved “methodically” through the synagogue and shot many of his victims at close range.
Prosecutor Soo Song warned the jurors that some testimony and evidence may be difficult to hear, including survivors recounting their “terror, confusion and pain.”
Bowers, who faces charges including hate crimes resulting in death, has pleaded not guilty.
The defense began its opening statement by admitting that Bowers was the shooter, calling his actions “incomprehensible” and “inexcusable.”
Bowers “shot every person he saw … and injured first responders who came to their rescue,” defense attorney Judy Clarke said. “There will be no question that this was a planned act and that he killed 11 people and injured others.”
But Clarke asked the jurors to look at the evidence and “scrutinize his intent.”
Testimony is expected to last three weeks. If Bowers is convicted, the sentencing phase could last an additional six weeks.
The defense is expected to argue during the sentencing phase that Bowers suffers from mental illness including schizophrenia, functional brain impairments and health issues such as epilepsy. The judge required Bowers to undergo a psychiatric evaluation, the results of which will remain under seal unless the case moves to a sentencing phase and his team proceeds with a mental health defense.
(DAVENPORT, Iowa) — In the wake of the partial collapse of an Iowa apartment building, five people remain unaccounted for, including two people who may still be inside the building, officials announced Tuesday.
Officials have met with the families of the two people who may be inside, Davenport Mayor Mike Matson said at a news conference Tuesday, calling it an “unthinkable situation.”
On Monday, officials had said there was no credible information that anyone was missing and the city was moving forward with plans for staging a demolition beginning Tuesday.
Officials said Tuesday that instead of beginning a demolition, they’re now working to determine the best way to conduct another search, noting that the building is unstable and continues to worsen as time progresses.
The six-story building partially collapsed on Sunday afternoon in Davenport, a city in Iowa’s Scott County located along the Mississippi River. The building housed a total of 84 apartments, including residential and commercial. The cause of the collapse is unknown.
More than a dozen people evacuated the building at the time of the partial collapse and eight people were rescued in the 24 hours that followed.
Over 150 personnel took part in “extensive rescue operations,” using thermal imaging, drones and a team of service dogs in an attempt to locate victims within the structure, according to city officials.
Then, on Monday night, after officials said they believed no one was missing, a ninth victim was extracted.
A crowd of people gathered at the site on Monday, calling for “accountability” and pleading with officials to postpone demolition because they believed more survivors could be inside.
Johnnie Woods told ABC News on Tuesday morning that her nephew, building resident Brandon Colvin, remains unaccounted for. She expressed her frustration that officials would possibly continue with a demolition as he remains missing.
“It’s like burying them in the rubble,” Woods said. “This is ridiculous.”
“We feel like they don’t care,” she added. “Our relatives, loved ones don’t count.”
But Amy Anderson, whose relative, Ryan Hitchcock, is also unaccounted for, asked protesters to stand down at Tuesday’s news conference.
“The city does have a plan,” she said. “Ryan wouldn’t want anyone else to put their lives at risk to [help], unfortunately, somebody who probably has not survived.”
Anderson said city officials have “given us their word that they’re going to treat that already collapsed area with sensitivity” to work to recover any remains.
“I plead with our community just to let the city do their job,” she said. “We don’t want anyone else hurt.”
ABC News’ Laryssa Demkiw, Andy Fies, Jessica Gorman, Ahmad Hemingway and Alex Perez
(HOLLYWOOD, Fla.) — Nine people, including children, were injured in a shooting along the Hollywood Beach Broadwalk on Florida’s east coast Monday night after a dispute broke out between two groups, according to police.
Four children between the ages of 1 and 17 were shot, including a baby between 15 and 18 months old, according to Hollywood police spokesperson Deanna Bettineschi.
The other five victims were adults ages 25 to 65.
Six patients — four children and two adults — remain hospitalized on Tuesday, all in stable condition, according to hospital officials. The other three adults were treated and discharged.
Hollywood Beach Mayor Josh Levy said “multiple” people have been detained.
“No stone will be left unturned in bringing the perpetrators to justice,” Levy said in a statement Tuesday. “We will utilize every available resource to apprehend those responsible.”
“It is completely unacceptable that innocent people spending time with family on a holiday weekend have been affected by a shooting altercation between two groups who came into our city with guns and no regard for the safety of the law abiding public around them,” Levy added.
ABC News’ Darren Reynolds, Peter Charalambous and Okelo Pena contributed to this report.
(SITKA, Alaska) — The Coast Guard suspended its search late Monday for four missing people after a charter fishing boat sank off the coast of Alaska.
Rescuers located one deceased individual and the vessel partially submerged near a small island 10 miles from Sitka, Alaska, according to the Coast Guard.
Kingfisher Charters, a Sitka-based company that operates all-inclusive fishing trips, reported the missing vessel to the Coast Guard on Sunday evening. The boat was carrying four passengers and one guide when it sank, according to the Coast Guard.
The 30-foot aluminum vessel was last seen on Sunday afternoon near Kruzof Island, less than 10 miles from the small rocky island where the ship was found.
“Despite our best efforts and those of several partner agencies, we were not able to find the four remaining individuals, ” Coast Guard Captain Darwin Jensen said. “Suspending a search is never an easy decision. We extend our deepest sympathy to the loved ones during this difficult time.
Kingfisher Charters offers all-inclusive fishing packages and operates guided trips on 30-foot power boats that can carry up to six anglers on a boat, according to the company website.
Kingfisher Charters did not immediately respond to ABC News’ request for comment.
Rescuers, including the Coast Guard, local officials, and private boaters, searched 825 miles over 20 hours before suspending the search.
Sitka often attracts anglers from across the United States for its king salmon and halibut fishing, both currently in season. Located in Alaska’s Southeast panhandle, Sitka has over 8,000 residents across Baranof Island, according to the latest census data.
ABC News’ Jenna Harrison contributed to this report.
(DAVENPORT, Iowa) — A partially collapsed apartment building is set to be demolished in eastern Iowa on Tuesday morning, despite calls for a delay from members of the community who say their loved ones are still missing.
A six-story building partially collapsed on Sunday afternoon in Davenport, a city in Iowa’s Scott County located along the Mississippi River. The building housed a total of 84 apartments between residential and commercial, according to Davenport Mayor Mike Matson and Davenport Fire Chief Michael Carlsten. The cause of the collapse was unknown and remains under investigation.
More than a dozen people evacuated the building at the time of the collapse, while eight others had to be rescued in the hours afterward. The eighth victim was extracted from the site late Sunday and transported to a hospital in unknown condition, Matson and Carlsten said at a press conference on Monday morning. At that time, no deaths had been confirmed and there was no credible information that anyone is missing.
Over 150 personnel have taken part in the “extensive rescue operations,” using thermal imaging, drones and a team of service dogs in an attempt to locate victims within the structure, according to a press release from the Davenport city government. As of Monday night, crews had found “no confirmed viable signs of life” since rescuing the eighth victim, the city said.
The city hired an independent and certified structural engineer to evaluate the structural integrity of the building. The engineer determined that the building is “in imminent danger of collapse with the condition on site continuing to worsen,” the city said. Officials are working with a local contractor on a plan to safely dismantle and demolish the remaining structure.
A notice and order for demolition has been served to the owner of the property. Demolition is expected to begin Tuesday morning. Due to the unstable condition, residents will not be allowed back into the building prior to demolition, according to the city.
“With the current structure in imminent danger of collapse, the necessity to demolish this building stems specifically from our desire to maintain as much safety for the surrounding areas as possible,” said Rich Oswald, director of the City of Davenport’s Development and Neighborhood Services, said in a statement late Monday. “We appreciate the expertise of the professionals collaborating on site to determine the best way to do this.”
Meanwhile, the Davenport Police Department has been working to make contact with and account for all individuals known to be residents in the building at the time of the collapse. There are currently an unspecified number of residents who remain unaccounted for, according to the city.
A large crowd gathered at the site on Monday, calling for “accountability” and pleading with officials not to demolish the structure because they believe people could still be alive inside. A protest is scheduled for Tuesday morning ahead of the planned demolition.
Johnnie Woods told The Des Moines Register that her nephew Branden Colvin, who lived on the fifth floor of the building, didn’t show up to a family gathering on Sunday and hasn’t been seen since.
“He didn’t make it, so then we heard about this building collapse where he lived and we just assumed he must have been in the building,” Woods told the newspaper on Monday.
“My other nephews and other people have been trying to call his phone, and he’s not answering his phone,” she added. “So we’re assuming something, that he can’t talk, his phone is dead, or something. Really, we don’t know anything.”
Woods said she wants officials to share more information about who was in the building and who had or had not been located.
“You don’t have to say names, but you can at least say: ‘We have everybody out. We have the list of names from the apartment complex, and we got everybody out,'” she told The Des Moines Register.
