WILLINGBORO NEW JERSEY MAN INDICTED IN CONNECTION WITH 2020 MAPLE SHADE NEW JERSEY FATAL SHOOTING
Semaj T. Pittman Has Been Indicted On First Degree Murder & Weapons Offenses In Connection With The February 23, 2020 Maple Shade Fatal Shooting Of Kayla Winkler."
August 9, 2021 By Art Fletcher Reporting For: Englebrook Independent News,
MOUNT HOLLY, NJ.- On Monday, August 9, 2021 Burlington County Prosecutor Scott Coffina announced that a Grand Jury sitting in Burlington County has returned an indictment against a Willingboro, New Jersey man for Murder in the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old woman inside her Lenola Road apartment in Maple Shade, New Jersey on February 23, 2020.
The Grand Jury indicted Semaj T. Pittman, 22, on Charges of First Degree Murder, First Degree Conspiracy to Commit Robbery, First Degree Robbery, Second Degree Aggravated Assault, Second Degree Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose, Second Degree Unlawful Possession of a Weapon, and Second Degree Certain Persons Not to Possess a Weapon.
The indictment was returned Thursday, August 5, 2021 and signed by Prosecutor Coffina. An arraignment will be held soon in Superior Court. Pittman was charged with the crime in May 2021 and served with the warrant inside the Burlington County Jail in Mount Holly, New Jersey where he was already lodged on unrelated charges.
A teenager from Evesham Township, New Jersey who was charged along with Pittman has pled guilty to First Degree Murder. Under New Jersey law, his name must be withheld because he was a juvenile at the time the offense was committed.
The investigation began on the afternoon of February 23, 2020, after Members of The Maple Shade Police Department responded to The Arbors Apartment Complex for a report of a shooting. Upon arrival, Police Officers 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, New Jersey where the woman, Kayla Winkler, was pronounced deceased. Her boyfriend, Ramek Bass of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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 Burlington County Sheriff’s Department is a member of the task force.
"The Rules Of The Court Require Us To Include A Statement, Which States: The Charges Are Merely Accusations And The Defendant And Or Defendants Are Presumed Innocent Unless And Until Proven Guilty Beyond Reasonable Doubt."
FILED UNDER AUGUST 9, 2021: LAW, BURLINGTON: