A Union Township man has admitted to stabbing his father to death last year, acting Union County Prosecutor Michael A. Monahan announced Tuesday.
According to authorities, Jeffrey Adams, 21, pleaded guilty Monday before state Superior Court Judge William Daniel to a single count of first-degree aggravated manslaughter in connection with the death of 59-year-old Michael Adams.
Police said at approximately 11:45 a.m. May 8, 2017, members of the Irvington Fire Department and Union Township police and fire personnel responded to a home on the 1500 block of Van Ness Terrace on a report of a house fire, according to Union County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Spagnoli, who prosecuted the case.
Inside the home, first responders found the body of Michael Adams, who was pronounced dead at the scene, Spagnoli said.
An investigation by the Union County Homicide Task Force, assisted by the Union Township Police Department and Union County Sheriff’s Office’s Crime Scene Unit, determined that following a verbal dispute, Jeffrey Adams stabbed his father, set the family home on fire, and fled the scene.
According to police, Adams turned himself in at Union Township Police Department headquarters hours later.
Sentencing in the case has been scheduled for Mar. 16th, before Judge Daniel, at which time the State will request a term of 25 years in state prison, with at least 85 percent to be served before the possibility of parole under New Jersey’s No Early Release Act.