Murder Charge For Man In Maple Shade Motel Slaying: Prosecutor

MAPLE SHADE, NJ — Officials charged a Philadelphia man with murder and weapons charges in the May stabbing death of a 36-year-old woman in a Burlington County motel.

Alexander Rivera, 26, is accused of stabbing and strangling 36-year-old Michelle L. Johnston to death, according to a news release from Burlington County Prosecutor LaChia L. Bradshaw and Maple Shade Police Chief Christopher J. Fletcher.

U.S. Marshals arrested Rivera in his Mayfair home on November 4, Bradshaw and Fletcher said. He is in jail in Philadelphia pending extradition to New Jersey, officials said. Bradshaw and Fletcher said officials are still investigating a motive for the crime.

Rivera faces charges of murder, unlawful possession of a weapon, and possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose according to officials.

Police found Johnston dead in a room at the Bel-Air Motor Lodge on Route 73 in Maple Shade on May 11. Someone called police at 11:30 a.m. that day to report an unresponsive woman, officials said.

Johnston had previously lived "in multiple locations" around Burlington and Camden counties, said officials.

Officials said an autopsy performed by Burlington County Medical Examiner Dr. Ian Hood determined her cause of death was strangulation and multiple stab wounds.

Bradshaw and Fletcher said the case against Rivera will be prepared for presentation to a grand jury for possible indictment.