Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw announced today that 27-year-old Alexander Rivera of Philadelphia has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for the homicide of a woman in a Maple Shade motel last year. According to the announcement, Rivera must serve “85 percent of the term before becoming eligible for parole.”
He pled guilty to First Degree Aggravated Manslaughter in July, and the sentence was issued by the Hon. Gerard H. Breland, J.S.C., in Superior Court in Mount Holly.
The case dates back to May 11, 2022, when Maple Shade Police Department officers responded to a report of an “unresponsive female” at the Bel-Air Motor Lodge on Route 73. The victim, identified as 36-year-old Michelle Johnston, was found dead in room 410. An autopsy by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood revealed that the cause of death was “strangulation and multiple stab wounds.”
Prosecutor Bradshaw stated, “This was a fierce, unprovoked attack against an unsuspecting victim.” She added that the office joins “those who loved Michelle Johnston, including her two children, in mourning her tragic loss” and expressed gratitude to everyone involved in bringing justice in the case.
Rivera was apprehended in November at his Philadelphia residence by the U.S. Marshals Service New York/New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force.