Burlington County, NJ, man gets 20 years for fatal hotel stabbing

A South Jersey man will be spending the next couple of decades behind bars for a fatal stabbing at a hotel last year.

Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw says 30-year-old Taylor Perkins of Riverton was sentenced to 20 years in state prison for killing 36-year-old Michael Jefferies at the Rodeway Inn on Route 73 in Mount Laurel.

After deliberating for about five hours, a jury convicted Perkins in August of the following charges:

• Second-degree manslaughter
• Second-degree eluding
• 2 counts of third-degree theft by unlawful taking
• Third-degree possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose
• Fourth-degree unlawful possession of a weapon

Authorities say an investigation began on April 20th, 2023, after officers with the Mount Laurel Police Department were called to the hotel just before 10 AM for a report of two men fighting. There, they found Jeffries' body outside of a second-floor room.

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The investigation determined that after stabbing Jefferies, Perkins fled on foot to a nearby BMW dealership and drove off in an SUV. He then abandoned the SUV in Evesham and stole a truck belonging to an Xfinity worker working up on a ladder. He was eventually apprehended at a home on Decatur Street in Camden.

An autopsy performed by the Burlington County Medical Examiner determined Jefferies, of Mount Laurel, died from multiple stab wounds.

The investigation was conducted by the Mount Laurel Police Department and the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office, with assistance from the Camden County, Cherry Hill, and Evesham Township Police Departments. Perkins was prosecuted by BCPO Assistant Prosecutor Rachel M. Conte. The lead investigators were BCPO Detectives Shawn McDonough and Melyssa Alonso, and MLPD Detective Matthew Jankaitis.