MOUNT HOLLY, N.J. — A 33-year-old man from Lindenwold has been sentenced to 90 years in state prison for the 2020 murder of a man in a Mount Laurel hotel room. The sentencing of Jawaad Ali was announced Friday by Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw.
Ali was convicted in June after a jury deliberated for two hours, finding him guilty of multiple charges, including first-degree murder, robbery, and kidnapping. The sentence was handed down by Superior Court Judge Terrence R. Cook in Mount Holly.
The investigation revealed that on May 8, 2020, Ali, along with two co-defendants, Asia Boone and Anthony Sermond-Guyton, lured 31-year-old Samer Alhalayqa to the Fairfield Inn on Century Parkway under the pretense of a robbery. Alhalayqa was suffocated in a third-floor room and later dragged into the hallway. His debit card was used after the murder to withdraw funds, order items from Amazon, and purchase pizza.
Ali represented himself during the trial. His co-defendants, Boone and Sermond-Guyton, have pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.
