Benson man mourns mother, brother

BENSON, N.C. — Ed Bynum is saddened and confused by what's going on with his family.

On Oct. 8, Johnston County sheriff's deputies found his mother murdered inside her home. The next day, they charged his brother with the crime. A cause of death has not been released.

Bynum said his brother Tony, 42, moved in with their mother about four months ago.

"He wasn't really a violent person, so for this to happen, it's definitely a shock," Ed Bynum said.

He wasn't aware of any problems between the two.

"If she had any idea that something like this would happen ... , she would never have let him come home," he said.

Annie Bynum lived alone in Benson for more than a decade, family members said. She is survived by her sons, Ed and Tony, five grandchildren, five sisters and two brothers.

With his mother in the grave and his brother behind bars, Ed Bynum has lost two loved ones. "Whatever the jurors decide, i'm comforable with it," he said.

He hasn't talked to his brother since the arrest, but said he hopes to do so.

"Nothing he could say to justify it, but I just want to know what happened," Ed Bynum explained.