A 27-year-old Philadelphia man who pleaded guilty to strangling and stabbing a woman to death in a New Jersey motel room last year has been sentenced to 25 years in state prison, according to reports.
Alexander Rivera will have to serve at least 21 years before he is eligible for parole, the Burlington County Prosecutor’s Office said in announcing the sentence.
Police were called to the Bel-Air Motor Lodge on Route 73 in Maple Shade at about 11:30 a.m. on May 11, 2022, after 36-year-old Michelle L. Johnston was found dead in room 410 by a motel employee, officials said.
An autopsy performed by the county medical examiner’s office determined the cause of death to be strangulation and multiple stab wounds.
A months-long investigation identified Rivera as the suspect. He was apprehended by U.S. marshals at a Philadelphia residence on Nov. 4, 2022.
“This was a fierce, unprovoked attack against an unsuspecting victim,” Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw said. “We join those who loved Michelle Johnston, including her two children, in mourning her tragic loss, and are grateful to everyone involved in this case who helped us bring justice for her death.”
Rivera and Johnston exchanged text messages for several hours before Rivera texted “I’m outside” around 2:50 a.m., according to an affidavit of probable cause.
Detectives reviewed surveillance footage from the motel and surrounding area, which showed a subject entering the room, leaving about 25 minutes later and fleeing the area in a vehicle, charging documents said.
Still images from the surveillance videos were shared with other law enforcement agencies, and a state parole officer said the man in the photos resembled Rivera, a convicted sex offender who had been avoiding parole supervision and could not be located, according to the affidavit.
Rivera was released from prison in 2020 after serving time on child endangerment charges relating to child pornography distribution, court records show.
Rivera admitted to the slaying of Johnston in July and pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter in exchange for a 25-year prison sentence, prosecutors said. He was initially charged with murder and related weapons offenses.
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