A Pleasantville woman pleaded guilty for a second time in a deadly stabbing inside an Atlantic City couple's home.
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.
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.
“I need to know what is going on,” Ellis told the detectives, according to the appellate decision. “I don’t have a lawyer. I don’t even have contact to a lawyer. I don’t have no money for a lawyer. I just need to know what’s going on. I know I didn’t stab her.”
While the detectives did read her the Miranda rights again, the appellate judges noted that she did not seek them out nor did she clarify that she no longer wanted an attorney.
“We find it troubling that, before she eventually waived her right to remain silent, defendant wanted to ‘talk to someone,’ but she was not afforded the opportunity to clarify if she still wanted to talk to an attorney,” the judges wrote.
The new plea deal calls for a 13½-year sentence with her required to serve 85 percent under the No Early Release Act.
Sentencing was originally scheduled for Aug. 10, but the state is requesting a postponement so that Jennifer Rodriguez’s family is able to attend.
At the last sentencing, Rodriguez's widower attended while in custody in the Camden County jail for an unrelated matter.
Ellis is currently in the Atlantic County Justice Facility.
