Alleged killer was hanging around NJ pharma exec in casino: report

The man accused of fatally shooting a New Jersey pharmaceutical executive after following him home from a winning night at a Pennsylvania casino was spotted on video hanging around his victim.

Jekai Reid-John, 27, and another man were seen on surveillance video from the Parx Casino in Bensalem, Pa., lurking around the victim, Sree Ranga Aravapalli, according to the Bucks County Courier Times, which cited court papers. The second man was not however publicly identified.

Reid-John, of Norristown, Pa, was charged Tuesday in Montgomery County, Pa., with one-count of first degree murder in the fatal attack. Cops say he tailed Aravapalli about 30 miles to his home in Plainsboro, NJ, broke in and shot him several times.

The attack was seemingly a robbery gone bad – Aravapalli cashed out winnings of around $10,000 before leaving the casino. Reid-John didn’t know Aravapalli, but watched him take off, then hit the road to follow him home around 3 a.m, police told NBC4 New York.

The 54-year-old CEO of Aurex Labs in East Windsor hadn’t made it upstairs, where his wife and daughter were sleeping, when Reid-John allegedly busted in by a back sliding door, which was covered with plywood Thursday, the stop reported.

A neighbor told the stop a car could be heard racing away after the gunshots rang out by the quiet, upscale neighborhood. The initial tip on Reid-John’s identity came from a video at a farmstand near the home.

Reid-John is awaiting extradition to New Jersey.

Aravapalli also left behind a son. It’s not clear if the son was home at the time of the attack.

Eric Hausler, the CEO of Parx, confirmed in an emailed statement late Thursday the victim had been at the casino, and said they were cooperating with the investigation.

Court records show Reid-John pleaded guilty in Montgomery County to a drug-dealing offense in 2016 and was sentenced to a minimum of two to four years in state prison and eight years of probation, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported.

“It’s crazy,” Sheeza Khan, Aravapalli’s neighbor, told Philadelphia’s CBS3. “I average, unbelievable. Like how can somebody follow him all the way, and come here and kill him in the night? It’s so shocking.”