What to Know
- 34-year-old Alex Jeffrey has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the murder of his 35-year-old girlfriend Merceda Young.
- Young was 12 weeks pregnant with Jeffrey's child when she was killed, although Jeffrey was married to another woman at the time.
- Young was stabbed 22 times back in October of 2013 before being found dead at the end of Division Avenue near the East River.
A Brooklyn man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison for stabbing his pregnant girlfriend to death, then dumping her body into the East River back in 2013, prosecutors say.
Alex Jeffrey, 34, of Bedford-Stuyvesant stabbed and killed his 35-year-old girlfriend, Merceda Young, who was 12 weeks pregnant with his child at the time of her death, according to the Brooklyn district attorney's office.
Prosecutors said Jeffrey stabbed Young 22 times inside his Jeep and then dumped her body at the end of Division Avenue in Williamsburg in October 2013. After covering her body with a blanket, he threw some of her belongings, along with the knife he used to kill her and his own jacket, into the East River.
Jeffrey and Young had a three-year relationship prior to her death, but Jeffrey was married to another woman, prosecutors said.
Young had two other children unrelated to Jeffrey. Her 14-year-old son was able to tell police about Jeffrey's relationship with his mother and describe the Jeep during the investigation, which helped lead to his arrest when traces of Young's blood were found inside.
One of Jeffrey’s coworkers also found a bag wrapped in duct tape with the victim’s cell phone, wallet and credit cards, according to prosecutors.
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Cellphone location data, as well as past Google searches on how to remove blood stains, provided additional evidence against Jeffrey.
Jeffrey pleaded guilty to manslaughter in July.
"This defendant brutally stabbed a pregnant woman, robbing her two children of their mother. He has now been held accountable for his actions and will spend many years in prison," Brooklyn District Attorney Eric Gonzalez said in a press release.
