A New York mother allegedly slain by her asylum-seeking boyfriend in her newly purchased home in Ireland died from suffocation, a finding that runs counter to early accounts of the violent scene.
Jamey Carney’s badly injured body was discovered Tuesday morning in the town of Killarney by her 13-year-old daughter, who found her mother in bed concealed beneath a duvet.
Although Carney had sustained several serious head injuries and was initially believed to have died during a vicious assault allegedly carried out by her new partner, suspect Ahmad Alsaqer, authorities now say the attack itself was not the cause of death.
The 43-year-old mother of one died as a result of suffocation, according to a postmortem examination conducted by State Pathologist Dr. Linda Mulligan, the Irish Times reported.
No further findings from the autopsy have been made public.
Gardai, Ireland’s national police service, have launched a murder investigation into Carney’s death and are searching for 28-year-old Alsaqer, who investigators believe left the country within hours of the alleged killing.
Investigators are concerned that DNA recovered from the home could complicate the case because Alsaqer was reportedly a regular visitor to Carney’s residence, unlike in cases involving an unknown intruder, the outlet reported.
Carney, who worked for a healthcare consulting firm, met Alsaqer about 18 months ago at a pro-Palestinian rally.
The two had been pictured in multiple social media posts in the weeks leading up to Carney’s death, including one where they
He is believed to have jumped on a bus from Killarney to Dublin at 3 a.m. and possibly a last-minute flight out of Ireland to Istanbul, Turkey, according to the Irish Independent.
Police are probing several of Alsaqer’s contacts across the Middle East, including in Turkey, Syria and Jordan, suspecting they are helping the man, who arrived in Ireland in 2024, escape.
Officials issued alerts at ports and airports over fears Alsaqer had a 12-hour head start to flee the country before Carney’s body was found.
“(Police) are satisfied that a person of interest in this investigation left the jurisdiction in the early hours of Tuesday 7th July prior to the body of the deceased female being discovered and reported to,” a police statement to the Irish Independent said.
It is unclear how he could have fled the country as he wouldn’t have had access to his passport due to his open asylum application, sources told the outlet.
Carney, who had moved with her daughter from Westchester County, NY, to Ireland in 2021, was remembered by family as a “most caring humanitarian.”
“The sweetest, most caring, most humanitarian person,” her cousin Ryan Fox told RTE.
Fox called Carney’s death “a shock and a nightmare” to their family, as her mother was “very upset” and “could barely get her words across.”
“It’s something that nobody expected because, two days before, there was a picture posted, everybody’s smiling,” Fox told the outlet.
Carney may have been killed during a jealous fit or rage, the Irish Independent previously reported.
Neighbors reported hearing a loud argument coming from Carney’s rented home on Monday, hours before her body was discovered.
Police also asked for anyone in the area of the luxury housing estate between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday to step forward with any information or CCTV video.
