PORTSMOUTH, Va. — The Portsmouth man accused of fatally shooting a New Jersey councilwoman in February won't be extradited out of the state of Virginia for now.
An extradition hearing for Rashid Ali Bynum was continued in Chesapeake General District Court Thursday morning to Aug. 25.
Chesapeake police and other law enforcement agencies arrested the 29-year-old at his home in May after investigators linked him to the murder of New Jersey Councilwoman Eunice Dwumfour.
Detectives found Dwumfour about five months ago shot to death near her car after she came back from the grocery store.
Investigators said they linked Bynum to the crime when they learned both Dwumfour and Bynum attended the same church group and she had his cell phone number in her contacts.
But Dwumfour's family told investigators they never heard of this man before or understand how they are connected.
That's exactly what New Jersey prosecutors are trying to find out by pursuing a governor's warrant to extradite Bynum to their jurisdiction, where they want to try him for first-degree murder.
The Chesapeake Commonwealth's Chief Deputy Attorney D.J. Hansen said New Jersey's governor now has to get formal permission from Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin to release Bynum to authorities there.
Hansen said extraditions are not common in criminal cases for the City of Chesapeake, but he said the efforts to work with state governors in the process are typical.
While Bynum is scheduled for his next extradition hearing in August, the governors could agree to move him before then.
In the meantime, Bynum will remain in Chesapeake City Jail. His attorney told the judge Thursday that his client is not entitled to a bond in Chesapeake court, based on the nature of the murder charges.