Press of Atlantic City
August 7, 2014
A Pleasantville man has been charged with murder in connection with a woman whose remains were found in a suitcase in a wooded area behind the former Shore Mall in Egg Harbor Township.
Steven Stallworth, 27, who lives in Noah’s Landing, was arrested Tuesday morning, Atlantic County Prosecutor Jim McClain said.
Tara Rogers-Alicea’s body was discovered inside a suitcase by an off-duty Margate police sergeant Jan. 5. The 30-year-old Gloucester County woman was identified through tattoos.
She was asphyxiated through strangulation, according to the autopsy.
A joint investigation by the Prosecutor’s Office and Egg Harbor Township police led to the arrest of Stallworth in Mays Landing. Pleasantville police assisted.
Investigators were seen at his Pleasantville residence Tuesday morning, taking out evidence.
No motive has been released.
Stallworth, who has two drug convictions, according to courthouse records, is charged with murder and desecration of human remains. He is in the Atlantic County Justice Facility on $2 million full cash bail.
Rogers-Alicea had visited the Atlantic City area before, and her Facebook postings included pictures and statuses about it.