By: Richard L. Smith
A Riverton resident, Taylor Perkins, has been sentenced to 20 years in state prison for the fatal stabbing of Michael Jefferies at the Rodeway Inn on Route 73 in Mount Laurel in the spring of 2023, according to a statement released by the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office.
The jury deliberated for approximately five hours before delivering its verdict.
According to the prosecutor’s office, the incident occurred on April 20, 2023, when officers from the Mount Laurel Police Department responded to a call about two men fighting at the hotel.
When officers arrived, they found Jefferies, 36, lying outside a second-floor room near a stairwell, suffering from multiple stab wounds. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Following the stabbing, Perkins fled the scene on foot, according to the statement. He then stole a vehicle from a nearby BMW dealership and later abandoned it in Evesham Township.
Perkins continued his escape by stealing a truck from an Xfinity worker, who was on a ladder at the time.
Authorities eventually apprehended Perkins at a residence in Camden.
The sentencing, delivered this week by Superior Court Judge Richard J. Nocella, follows an August jury conviction that found Perkins guilty of Manslaughter (Second Degree), Eluding (Second Degree), two counts of Theft by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree), Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree), and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon (Fourth Degree).
An autopsy by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood confirmed that Jefferies died from multiple stab wounds.
