Sentencing In Murder Of Man Who Slighted Killer's Girlfriend

MOUNT VERNON, NY — A Mount Vernon man convicted of murder last month after flying into a rage and stabbing a man who touched his girlfriend in a shop, was sentenced Monday to 18-years-to-life in prison.

Savion Kirton was convicted in April of the murder of Jermial Rose in June of 2019. Kirton’s girlfriend was in a Mount Vernon store when Rose brushed up against her. She returned to her home and told her boyfriend, Kirton, what had happened. Armed with a folding knife, Kirton went to the store and confronted Rose on the sidewalk in front of the shop.

Security camera footage captured Kirton at the scene of the crime. He stabbed Rose in the left side of the neck with enough force that the knife crossed his throat and severed his carotid artery. The knife, with Rose’s DNA on it, was later recovered by investigators in the girlfriend’s apartment.

“Our hearts go out to Jermial Rose’s family, and we extend to them our deepest condolences," Westchester District Attorney Miriam Rocah said in a statement. “While we know we can never bring their loved one back, we hope that the conviction and sentence of the perpetrator of this crime brings them some measure of peace.”

Kirton’s conviction marked the first jury trial to take place in Westchester County Court since the fall, when jury trials were suspended for a second time due to a spike in coronavirus cases.

The jury deliberated for just 90 minutes before coming back with the guilty verdict.

The victim’s family was present at the sentencing.

Rose’s sister spoke at the hearing, telling the court that her brother “never got a chance to live and reach all his goals in life” because of Kirton's actions that day.

“Family is all we have and there is not much of my family left,” the sister told Judge George Fufidio. “My mom misses her son. I miss my big brother, my protector. My grandmother misses her only grandson, my aunt misses her only nephew. My 6-year-old daughter misses her uncle.”