Willingboro, NJ, Man Gets 25 Years in Prison For Fatal Shooting

A Willingboro man has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for fatally shooting a 22-year-old woman three years ago inside her Maple Shade apartment.

24-year-old Semaj T. Pittman learned his fate late last week after he had pleaded guilty to one count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter.

The Burlington County Prosecutor's Office says an investigation began on the afternoon of February 23rd, 2020, after officers with the Maple Shade Police Department were called to The Arbors apartment complex on Lenola Road for a report of a shooting.

There, they found a man and a woman with gunshot wounds coming out of an elevator.

The Arbors apartment complex on Lenola Road in Maple Shade NJ - Photo: Google Maps

Both victims were taken to Cooper University Medical Center in Camden where the woman, 22-year-old Kayla Winkler, was pronounced dead.

Her boyfriend, Ramek Bass of Philadelphia, who was 24 at the time, was treated for a gunshot wound to the shoulder.

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

The teenager, from Evesham Township, pleaded guilty last year to first-degree murder.

Pittman must serve at least 85 percent of his prison term, or just over 21 years, becoming eligible for parole.

Numerous law enforcement agencies worked on this case, including the New Jersey State Police; the Maple Shade Township, Cherry Hill, Cinnaminson, and Philadelphia Police Departments, the Burlington County Office of Emergency Management, and the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.

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