Published on: October 2, 2025, 02:35h.
Updated on: October 2, 2025, 02:35h.
- Jury acquits Jekai Reid-John of murder charges after a lengthy trial.
- Prosecution relied on casino surveillance, toll records, and circumstantial evidence.
- The defense highlighted the lack of firearm matches and direct forensic evidence.
A man from Norristown, Pennsylvania, accused of murdering a Parx Casino winner might have tracked the victim to his home in the early hours of October 26, 2021. However, a jury in Middlesex County concluded that the evidence presented by the prosecution did not definitively show he fired the fatal shot.
Jekai Reid-John, 31, faced allegations of killing Sree Aravapalli, who was discovered with gunshot wounds in his Plainsboro, New Jersey home around 3:30 a.m. that night. He was transported to a hospital, where he was declared dead at 5:24 a.m.
Aravapalli had recently won approximately $10,000 at Parx Casino, leading prosecutors to claim that Reid-John and an accomplice, Devon Melchor, targeted him based on his casino win and followed him home.
Reid-John was charged with several serious offenses, including murder, armed robbery, conspiracy to commit armed robbery, burglary, multiple weapons charges, and witness tampering. Melchor has since pleaded guilty to first-degree armed robbery and second-degree conspiracy to commit armed robbery and is awaiting his sentencing.
After a three-week trial, the Middlesex County jury acquitted Reid-John of all charges except for conspiracy to commit armed robbery on September 26. This was Reid-John’s second trial, as a prior trial in May 2025 resulted in a hung jury.
Followed by Two Men
The prosecution contended that Reid-John and Melchor intentionally targeted Aravapalli after observing him win a substantial amount at the casino.
Surveillance footage captured the two men monitoring the victim throughout the night, and a debit-card purchase by one of the men was directly linked to Reid-John.
In addition, E-ZPass data confirmed that Aravapalli entered the Pennsylvania Turnpike shortly after leaving the casino. Around the same time, a white BMW with temporary Delaware plates and a distinctive spoiler—later linked to Reid-John—was noted entering the toll system right behind him and exited at the same interchange around 3:20 a.m.
Authorities later located the BMW parked outside Reid-John’s residence in Norristown. Searches of the vehicle and the property revealed a loaded 9mm handgun, which prosecutors claimed indicated that the defendant had access to firearms.
Circumstantial Evidence
The defense argued that the bullets recovered at the murder scene were .380 caliber, challenging any direct connection between Reid-John’s firearm and the crime, suggesting that the prosecution failed to fulfill its burden of proof.
No DNA, fingerprints, or eyewitness accounts definitively placed Reid-John at the scene of the crime, which meant that the prosecution’s case was primarily circumstantial, a factor that weighed heavily with the jurors.
The conspiracy charge will be addressed in court on October 10, as indicated by legal filings.