‘Kind and caring': Funeral planned for Blenheim, NJ woman slain in Philly office

GLOUCESTER TOWNSHIP (Camden) — Funeral services will be held Thursday for a 31-year-old woman who police say was beaten to death at her Philadelphia office last Wednesday.

Samantha "Sami" Maag, of the Blenheim section of Gloucester Township in Camden County, was pronounced dead at a hospital about an hour after Philadelphia police responded to a report of a robbery at the Chestnut Street location of Regus, where Maag worked, according to her obituary.

The obituary went on to say that the 2009 graduate of Triton Regional High School in Runnemede and 2013 graduate of Rowan University was an "avid reader and writer" who loved "listening to music, attending concerts, baking and high-fashion."

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"She was a kind and caring individual who was hard-working at everything she did," the obituary said.

On Facebook, Dominic Pollino identified Maag as having worked for him while he was employed by Regus.

"I am still completely sick over hearing this news," Pollino wrote Friday morning, calling his former coworker "a complete sweetheart...always had a smile on her face and something nice to say. She defined the perfect person you would want to have all of your customers first greeted by when they walked through the door."

Jeffrey Stepien, 49, of Philadelphia was charged with murder and possession of an instrument of crime in Maag's death, with police saying they found him inside the Regus building holding two bloody, metal pipes.

A police source told 6ABC Action News that a dispute over rent may have sparked the attack, and that Stepien and Maag might have argued previously.

"This is absolutely senseless," Pollino wrote. "Sam was an absolute gem."

Maag will be laid to rest Thursday, with visitation beginning at 10:30 a.m. followed by a 12:30 p.m. funeral at Earle Funeral Home in Blackwood. Interment will then follow at Hillcrest Memorial Park in Washington Township, Gloucester County.

With additional reporting by Dan Alexander.

Patrick Lavery is New Jersey 101.5's afternoon news anchor. Follow him on Twitter @plavery1015 or email patrick.lavery@townsquaremedia.com.