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Devon Melchor, 26, of Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, was charged with first-degree armed robbery and second-degree conspiracy to commit armed robbery, according to Middlesex County Prosecutor Yolanda Ciccone and Plainsboro Police Chief Fred Tavener.
Melchor was taken into police custody by authorities in Florida where he was attempting to board an international flight, Ciccone and Tavener said.
Melchor’s apprehension was made possible by collaborative efforts by members of the Plainsboro Police Department, New Jersey State Police Fugitive Unit, the New Jersey State Police Real Time Crime Center, the U.S. Marshal’s Fugitive Task Force, U.S. Customs and Border Patrol, the Newcastle (Delaware) County Police Department, the Norristown (PA) Police Department, the Upper Merion (PA) Police Department, the Montgomery County (PA) District Attorneys Office, and the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office.
On Oct. 26, at 3:38 a.m. authorities responded to a residence on Briardale Court on a report of shots fired.
Patrol officers found Sree Aravapalli, 54, of Plainsboro who sustained multiple gunshot wounds, Ciccone and Taverner said.
Aravapalli was transported from the scene to a nearby hospital where he was pronounced dead, they said.
An investigation by Detective William Atkinson of the Plainsboro Police Department and Detective Paul Kelley of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office determined that Aravapalli was fatally shot in his home during an attempted robbery.
The investigation ultimately determined that Jekai Reid-John, 27, of Norristown, PA, and Melchor targeted Aravapalli at a casino in Pennsylvania and followed him home to his Plainsboro residence where the offense occurred.
Melchor remains in Florida pending an extradition hearing.
Upon his return to New Jersey, he will be held at the Middlesex County Adult Correction Center pending a pre-trial detention hearing in Superior Court.
Anyone with information is asked to call Detective Atkinson of the Plainsboro Police Department at 609-799-2333 or Detective Kelley of the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office at 732-745-3330.
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