MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. — A 30-year-old Riverton resident, Taylor Perkins, has been convicted of fatally stabbing a man during a fight at the Rodeway Inn in Mount Laurel in the spring of 2023, Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw announced today.
After five hours of deliberation, a Superior Court jury found Perkins guilty of multiple charges, including 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). Sentencing has been scheduled for October 18 in Mount Holly before the Hon. Richard J. Nocella, J.S.C.
The incident occurred on April 20, 2023, when Mount Laurel police responded to a report of two men fighting at the Rodeway Inn on Route 73. Officers found the body of Michael Jefferies, 36, outside a second-floor room near a stairwell. Jefferies, a resident of Mount Laurel, had died from multiple stab wounds, according to an autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood.
After the stabbing, Perkins fled the scene on foot, stole a vehicle from a nearby BMW dealership, and later abandoned it in Evesham. He then stole a truck from an Xfinity worker who was on a ladder at the time. Perkins was eventually apprehended at a residence on Decatur Street in Camden.
