CNBNews

Semaj T. Pittman

Two Charged with Murder for 2020 Maple Shade Fatal Shooting

Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina and Maple Shade Township Police Chief Christopher Fletcher announced that two people have been charged with the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old woman inside of her Lenola Road apartment in Maple Shade early last year.

Semaj T. Pittman, 21, of Hewlet Lane in Willingboro, was charged with Murder (First Degree), Conspiracy to Commit Robbery (First Degree), Robbery (First Degree), Aggravated Assault (Second Degree), Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Second Degree), Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Second Degree), and Certain Persons Not to Possess a Weapon (Second Degree).

He was served the warrant this morning inside the Burlington County Jail, where he is presently lodged on unrelated charges.

A teenager from Evesham Township also has been charged with Murder (First Degree), Conspiracy to Commit Robbery (First Degree) and Robbery (First Degree) from the same incident. Under New Jersey law, his name must be withheld because he was a juvenile at the time the offense was committed. He is being detained in Middlesex County.

The investigation began on the afternoon of February 23, 2020, after Maple Shade police officers were called to The Arbors apartment complex for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, they found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds coming out of the elevator on the ground floor.

Both victims were transported to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden, where the woman, Kayla Winkler, was pronounced dead. Her boyfriend, Ramek Bass, 24, of Philadelphia, was treated and released for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

The investigation revealed that Pittman and the juvenile went to the apartment to rob Winkler and Bass, with whom they were acquainted. Pittman pulled a gun after they were let inside, and shot the victims as they tried to leave the apartment.

The investigation was conducted by detectives from the Prosecutor’s Office and the Maple Shade Township Police Department, with assistance from the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management, the Cherry Hill Police Department K9 Unit, the Cinnaminson Township Police Department, the New Jersey State Police, the Philadelphia Police Department, and the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.

The lead investigators were BCPO Detective Brian Cunningham and MSPD Detective Anthony Blinebury.

The case will be prosecuted by Assistant Prosecutor Bob Van Gilst, supervisor of the BCPO Major Crimes Unit – Violent Crimes Section.

All persons are considered innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.