New Jersey man sentenced to 90 years in prison for murder in Mount Laurel Hotel robbery

Burlington County

By: Richard L Smith

A 33-year-old Lindenwold man was sentenced to 90 years in state prison for murdering a Camden man in a Mount Laurel hotel room four years ago.

The sentence was announced Friday by Judge Terrence R. Cook in Superior Court in Mount Holly, according to a statement from Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw.

Convicted man Jawaad ​​​​Ali, along with two co-defendants, lured 31-year-old Samer Alhalayqa to the Fairfield Inn on Century Parkway on the night of May 8, 2020.

While in a third-floor hotel room, Alhalayqa was suffocated and his body was later dragged into the hallway.

Ali and his accomplices then used Alhalayqa's debit card to withdraw money, order items from Amazon and buy pizza.

Ali, who represented himself in the trial, was found guilty in June of multiple charges, including first-degree murder, robbery, kidnapping and desecration of human remains, among others.

The jury only needed two hours to reach a verdict.

Co-defendants Asia Boone and Anthony Sermond-Guyton both pleaded guilty and are awaiting sentencing.

They were prosecuted by Assistant District Attorney Jamie Hutchinson, while Ali's prosecution was led by Assistant District Attorneys Nicole C. Lister and David Kras Bakardjiev.

The investigation of the crime was a joint effort between the Burlington County Prosecutor's Office and the Mount Laurel Police Department, with significant participation from Detective Sergeant Brian Cunningham of the BCPO and Detective Sergeant Sean Bristow of the MLPD.