New York mother suffocated in Killarney home, asylum-seeking boyfriend sought

Jamey Carney, 48, was found dead by her 13-year-old daughter in Killarney, Ireland. A postmortem confirmed suffocation; suspect Ahmad Alsaqer is believed to have fled the country.

New York mother suffocated in Killarney home as suspect Ahmad Alsaqer flees Ireland

A postmortem examination has confirmed that Jamey Carney, a 48-year-old American mother who relocated from Westchester County, New York, to Ireland in 2021, died of suffocation — contradicting initial reports from the scene, nypost.com reports.

Carney's body was discovered hidden beneath a duvet in her bedroom in Killarney on the morning of Tuesday 7 July, by her 13-year-old daughter. She had sustained multiple severe wounds to her head.

State Pathologist Dr Linda Mulligan carried out the postmortem examination. No further details from the examination were released, according to the Irish Times.

The Gardaí have opened a murder investigation and are actively searching for Ahmad Alsaqer, 28, who is believed to have fled Ireland within hours of the alleged killing — giving him an estimated 12-hour head start before Carney's body was found. Officials issued alerts at ports and airports as a result.

Alsaqer, who arrived in Ireland in 2024 and has an open asylum application, is thought to have taken a bus from Killarney to Dublin at around 3 a.m. and may have departed on a last-minute flight to Istanbul, Turkey, according to the Irish Independent. It remains unclear how he could have left the country given that his passport would have been held as part of his asylum process, sources told the outlet.

"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 Gardaí statement to the Irish Independent said.

Investigators are examining several of Alsaqer's contacts across the Middle East, including in Turkey, Syria and Jordan, on suspicion that they are assisting his escape.

Carney had met Alsaqer at a pro-Palestinian rally approximately a year and a half ago. The two had appeared together in multiple social media posts in the weeks leading up to her death. Neighbours reported hearing a loud argument coming from Carney's rented home on the Monday night — hours before her body was discovered the following morning.

Officials acknowledged that DNA evidence found at the scene may complicate the investigation, as Alsaqer had visited Carney's home regularly, making it harder to establish evidence consistent with a stranger killing, according to the outlet.

Police have asked anyone in the area of the housing estate between 11 p.m. Monday and 5 a.m. Tuesday to come forward with information or CCTV footage.

Carney, who had been working for a healthcare consulting company, was remembered by family as a devoted and compassionate person. Her cousin Ryan Fox told RTÉ she was "the sweetest, most caring, most humanitarian person."

Fox described her death as "a shock and a nightmare" for the family, noting that Carney's 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 said.

Investigators previously reported to the Irish Independent that Carney may have been killed during a fit of jealous rage. No formal charges have been brought, and the investigation remains ongoing.

Source: The Sun