A local fugitive was arrested by US Marshals and a Philadelphia SWAT Team around 6 a.m. after he allegedly shot his wife to death at a Runnemede, New Jersey hotel and then fired shots at a stranger and took his car to flee the area.
Stephen Burgess, 38, of Spring is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 30-year-old Ivy Morris.
Just before 2 a.m. Wednesday, law enforcement and medics responded to the Days Inn Hotel in Runnemede, where 911 call-takers received a report of a shooting and carjacking. The victim of the carjacking told them the suspect fired shots at him, missing, and took his vehicle. Police searched the hotel and found Morris with gunshot wounds. She was beyond help and pronounced dead at the scene. Officials have yet to provide a motive.
The U.S. Marshals NY/NJ Regional Fugitive Task Force – Camden Division, the U.S. Marshals Eastern PA Violent Crimes Task Force – Philadelphia Division, and the Philadelphia Police SWAT Team found and arrested Burgess this morning in a hotel room on City Avenue in Philadelphia.
Because law enforcement arrested Burgess in Philadelphia, he’s jailed there awaiting extradition to New Jersey, where the murder and carjacking occurred.
Some Texas folks had a personal interest in the news of Burgess’s arrest. A-1 Bail Bonds of Conroe was on the hook for the $50,000 bond owed when he skipped his court date for first-degree felony Manufacture / Delivery of a Controlled Substance and vanished. Less than a week ago, the bonding company offered a reward, through social media, for information regarding his whereabouts.
Burgess is what law enforcement sometimes refers to as a “frequent flyer” because of his many arrests, but they were mostly drug related.
Anyone with information that may help with the murder investigation is asked to contact Sr. Detective Kyrus Ingalls of the Camden County New Jersey Prosecutor’s Office Homicide Unit at (856) 225-5105. Tips can also be sent to CAMDEN.TIPS.
(last Montgomery County booking photo)
