Pleasantville woman gets 13½ years in re-sentencing in fatal A.C. stabbing

A Pleasantville was sentenced to 13½ years in prison Thursday in a deadly knife attack on an Atlantic City couple.

Rollie Ellis, now 33, was originally sentenced to 20 years in prison after pleading guilty to attacking Jennifer and Raphy Rodriguez on April 11, 2018, inside their apartment on Iowa Avenue.

Jennifer Rodriguez, 34, escaped out a window and ran across the street to the Public Safety Building, where she collapsed in the lobby, bleeding. She was pronounced dead at the hospital.

Rodriguez’s husband, Raphy, also escaped, and flagged down an officer. He positively identified Ellis, who was arrested after she was found with a knife in her waistband.

Ellis first pleaded guilty in January 2020, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison.

But three years into that term, an appellate panel overturned her conviction, finding her Miranda rights were violated.

The issue hinged on her confession to detectives, which came after she had invoked her right to remain silent while in the hospital with stab wounds.

Ellis pleaded guilty again this past June.

At the last sentencing, Rodriguez’s widower attended while in custody in the Camden County jail for an unrelated matter.

“Raphy, there’s not any words that could bring your wife back,” Ellis told him at the time. “I hope one day you find it in your heart to forgive me for what I did.”

She is currently in the Atlantic County Justice Facility awaiting transfer back to state prison to complete her new sentence.