A 30-year-old Riverton resident was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for fatally stabbing a man at the Rodeway Inn on Route 73 in Mount Laurel in the spring of 2023, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw announced.

The sentence was handed down to Taylor Perkins by his Honor this week in Superior Court in Mount Holly. Richard J. Nocella, J.S.C.

A jury convicted Perkins in August of Manslaughter (Second Degree), Escape (Second Degree), two counts of Burglary by Unlawful Taking (Third Degree), Possession of a Weapon for an Unlawful Purpose (Third Degree) and Unlawful Possession of a Weapon ( Fourth Degree). The jury deliberated for nearly five hours before finding him guilty.

The investigation began on April 20, 2023, after officers with the Mount Laurel Police Department were called to the hotel just before 10 a.m. for a report of two men fighting. They found the body of 36-year-old Michael Jefferies on the floor near the stairwell outside a second-floor room.

The investigation determined that after stabbing Jefferies, Perkins fled on foot to a nearby BMW dealership and drove away in a sport utility vehicle. He left the SUV in Evesham and stole a truck belonging to an Xfinity employee who was working on the ladder at the time. He was eventually arrested at a home on Decatur Avenue in Camden.

Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. An autopsy performed by Ian Hood concluded that Jefferies, of Mount Laurel, died from multiple stab wounds.

Perkins was prosecuted by BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Rachel M. Conte.

The investigation was conducted by the Mount Laurel Police Department and the Burlington County District Attorney’s Office, with assistance from the Camden County Police Department, Cherry Hill Police Department, and Evesham County Police Department.

The lead investigators were BCPO Detectives Shawn McDonough and Melyssa Alonso and MLPD Detective Matthew Jankaitis.

Courtesy of Burlington County District Attorney’s Office